BBC suspend Tommy Sandhu for racist remarks against Pakistani’s and female presenter
According to the daily mail, Tommy Sandhu (40) was one of four colleagues allegedly part of a WhatsApp group where they shared hundreds of degrading and racist comments. The group made sexist comments and homophobic remarks in the chat which is why the BBC have opened an investigation and have taken disciplinary action against him and his colleagues.
They made a joke out of their own producers which included female asian network staff, Amanpreet Kaur.
The messages were accidentally found through a link where miss Kaur found them through the BBC laptop.
Sources said the BBC has opened a major investigation and has already taken disciplinary action against some of those involved, including Tommy Sandhu who has been suspended.
The BBC are not fully aware of how many people were involved in the goup but they have given names of a few who involve Asheesh Sharma and Kejal Kamani, two radio producers who routinely join Mr Sandhu on air, and a disc jockey known as DJ Sachy.
DJ Sachy
It has been stated that Mr Sharma has been given a final written warning and Mr Kamani has been fired. All of which are not Pakistani.
According to an insider, DJ Sachy, who has worked at the station for many years, will not be part of the BBC anymore.
Sources close to Mr Sandhu claim he did not make derogatory comments himself and was simply part of WhatsApp groups where some of the remarks were made.
Knowing that the BBC Asian Network has a very large Pakistani following from their 650,000 listeners a week, embarrassingly for the BBC, the WhatsApp groups were also used to promote racist comments to Pakistanis.
Proof of this is another message referred to BBC entertainment reporter Haroon Rashid as a ‘Paki’.
When one of the men did some work with DJ Noreen Khan, another BBC Asian Network DJ, they were asked on the messaging group ‘have them Pakis converted you?’, according to sources.
According to insiders, one of the men suggested they refuse to play any music by Pakistanis on the breakfast show even though the network was set up to cater to all Asian groups.
The broadcaster has offered Miss Kaur a job elsewhere but she has opted to stay at the station.
It’s a disgrace to now know that the presenters of the BBC favouritise certain peoples music on their own accord. This is clearly not fair and should be investigated further.
To make a complaint about Pakistani music not being played enough on BBC Asian Network – contact them here
