TV presenter in new race row over Indian official

A New Zealand television host suspended over allegations of racism faced fresh controversy on Wednesday for ridiculing the name of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. State-owned broadcaster TVNZ suspended breakfast host Paul Henry on Tuesday for questioning whether the country's governor general, who is from an Indo-Fijian background, was a proper New Zealander. Footage emerged on Wednesday of Henry deliberately mispronouncing the name of Dikshit, one of the officials who has been overseeing India's troubled Commonwealth Games, despite being told by colleagues it was pronounced "Dixit". "It's so appropriate because she's Indian ... I've known about her for a while and I've been laughing ever since," he said. Fairfax Media's stuff.co.nz website said TVNZ had been promoting the clip on the highlights section of its website, but removed the footage on Wednesday after reports it had offended members of the Indian community. New Zealand Indian Central Association president Paul Singh Bains said Henry appeared to have a problem with Indians and TVNZ should have sacked him, rather than suspending him for less than two weeks over his governor general remarks. "TVNZ have lost the plot. I honestly think the credibility of TVNZ is down the tubes through this," Bains told stuff.co.nz. "He should be sanctioned more than that. He should be eliminated from that spot. He should be sacked and given another role somewhere else." TVNZ had no immediate comment about the latest row to engulf the presenter. When he suspended Henry, TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis said the presenter "well and truly crossed the line" with his comments on Governor General Anand Satyanand, who was born in Auckland to Indo-Fijian parents. "Is he even a New Zealander?" Henry asked Prime Minister John Key on Monday. Henry has apologised over those remarks but has a long history of on-air gaffes, including describing British singer Susan Boyle as "retarded", gays as "unnatural", and accusing a female guest from Greenpeace of having a moustache. TVNZ initially fuelled the Satyanand row by saying Henry was popular because "he's prepared to say the things we quietly think but are scared to say out loud". The TVNZ publicist who made the comment reportedly admitted on Wednesday that she made a "horrendous error of judgement" and offered her resignation. In a leaked internal email obtained by rival broadcaster TV3, publicist Andi Brotherston said her offer to quit had not been accepted but she wanted to apologise to her colleagues at the station. "I am deeply upset that my comments have impacted the reputation of TVNZ, which I know all of you work so hard every day to protect and enhance," she said.