Popular Toronto-based Punjabi television and radio host Joginder Bassi has increased his show’s popularity with his ongoing discussion on the topic of international students in general, many of whom, mostly male, who have been caught in criminal and unsocial behavior in Canada but it’s what Bassi has said about female students from India that has sparked outrage on social media after saying female students from India are lazy and promiscuous home wreckers. While the reality is that some female students from India are being exploited sexually and some have been reported to be trying to find real or fake grooms to get PR in Canada but whether a large number of these students are actually using sex to get benefits and jobs in Canada is not entirely known even though this is the reality for some female Indian students here.

By Mr. X With News Files

TORONTO - Popular Toronto-based Punjabi television and radio host Joginder Bassi, who many in Toronto’s Indo-Canadian community say is gay, has come under fire for calling international female students from Punjab, India home-wreckers and whores.

Bassi has increased his show’s popularity with his ongoing discussion on the topic of international students in general, many of whom, mostly male, who have been caught in criminal and unsocial behavior in Canada and he’s supported by many members of the Indo-Canadian community who call in to tell horror stories of the students’ existence in Canada, whether it’s wrecking basements or fighting in the streets and other criminal activities.

But it’s what Bassi has said about female students that has sparked outrage on social media after saying female students from India are lazy and promiscuous home wreckers and are coming to Canada just to find men and get married.

The controversy stems from a show in November in which a woman called in to complain about international Indian students in Canada. The woman, speaking in Punjabi, said they should cut off the number of students being allowed to enter because they "spread so much garbage around" and "think they can do whatever they want."

Bassi responded that these female students don't work, are having babies and are unaware of the father's identity. He also said they're trying to find a guy in Canada to take advantage of, and in the process, ruining families and causing divorces.

"It's a big problem," Bassi said.

Bassi also said as part of the religion and in an effort to ensure no one goes hungry, Sikh temples, known as gurudwaras, offer free food to all people but that these students are taking advantage of this practice too. 

While the reality is that some female students from India are being exploited sexually and some have been reported to be trying to find real or fake grooms to get PR in Canada but whether a large number of these students are actually using sex to get benefits and jobs in Canada is not entirely known even though this is the reality for some female Indian students here.

But the reason the female students are targeting Bassi, the host of the Gaunda Punjab Radio and TV show, now is that his ongoing talk-shows on the subject and news of this alleged sexual promiscuity of female Indian students has reached India through Punjabi news services and videos of Bassi’s shows in Canada. This has caused great concern and stress for Indian parents who are very worried that they’re sending their daughters to Canada to be sexually exploited and to become promiscuous after they paid tens of thousands to send them to Canada.

While Bassi may be using the story to get more listeners and viewers, the reality is that exploitation of Indian female and male students is very real and sexual exploitation also happens as does in some cases the other charges made by Bassi.

But Indian female students are trying to protect their reputation by taking on the maverick Punjabi talk show host.

"You're targeting a whole community and you're saying negative things about them and that's so sad," Harjot Mannan, a 23-year-old from the Indian state of Punjab who studies at Toronto's Centennial College, told CBC News. "When he says that we're not paying our bills or finding a man just to get married, that is just wrong."

Harpreet Kaur, a 26-year-old nursing student from India who studies at Kitchener-Waterloo's Conestoga College told CBC she found Bassi's words offensive and discouraging.

"You are really discouraging people who are really working hard here to make their future because they're really starting from nothing to build everything here."

Kaur said Bassi's comments on his show, which is seen in Toronto and in India, have also sparked fears among some parents about the activities of their children in Canada.

"There were parents who haven't been to Canada and they were really worried about their girls. Especially there were parents who thought it may be right," Kaur said.

The video clip of Bassi's show has since gone viral and prompted many current and former students to respond through social media.

"He has intentionally targeted female students and calling them sexual subjects," wrote one former Humber College student on Facebook. "[He has] 0% right to target the whole community and defame their existence. He has completely ignored the fact that how international students are contributing to this great nation and how hard they are working to earn a better living."

According to its website, Gaunda Punjab Radio and TV features two daily news bulletins and regular talk shows, including a call-in televised show every Saturday.

Andrés Machalski, president of MIREMS, a service that monitors ethnic media, said that according to its data, Bassi's radio program attracts more than 250,000 listeners a day.

"He's a well-followed Punjabi journalist," Machalski said.

Bassi has not commented on the matter but his colleague Balraj Deol, the publisher of a weekly Punjabi newspaper, said Bassi's comments have been taken out of context.

He said much of the anger directed at Bassi is politically motivated and can be linked to upcoming elections in the provincial assembly in Punjab. He said some of the students are active with the Aam Aadmi Party (Common Man's Party) and are going after Bassi because he's not a supporter.