Govt orders FM station to explain RJ's remark

KOLKATA: A private Indian radio station has been threatened with government action after allegedly insulting the winner of the Indian Idol talent show and his entire ethnic group.

The Red FM station provoked rioting by referring to contest winner Prashant Tamang from Darjeeling as a "guard".

"It is prima facie evident that the remarks are in violation of the programme code," Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement, which also branded the station "racist and insulting."

It ordered Red FM to explain itself by Monday evening. Areas around Darjeeling have been rocked by protests and clashes following the Red FM comments, and Indian army soldiers continued to be deployed in the nearby town of Siliguri for a third day on Sunday.

Thirty people were hurt there in clashes between police and protestors on Friday.

The radio station has already apologised to the contest winner, who works as a police constable and who has in turn appealed to his fans not to riot.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com