Ragashanti says he feels he is being unfairly targeted by the commission. - Winston Sill

Dr Kingsley 'Ragashanti' Stewart, host of 'Ragashanti Live', has come out with all guns blazing and is accusing the Broadcasting Commission of wrongly targeting him.

"I am under siege. Right now, mi a protest fi mi rights, I am a law-abiding citizen and trust me, the Broadcasting Commission have me under pressure, dem a pressure me," he said.

The talk-show host further claimed, "The commission is personally attacking me, I have heard many sexual songs being played on radio in the same airtime and they are not being harassed. The inconsistencies prove that that I am being targeted personally. I just have one question for them, why is it that I broke the law when I played a Sparrow song? The song only alluded to a cat."

Sexual content

The talk-show host had played Sparrow's Ah fraid .... Bite Me on Monday during his programme. On Wednesday, Raga threatened to walk off the show and complained bitterly that he was being targeted by the commission, which was not satisfied with the lyrics of the song. The commission is said to have, in fact, requested a copy of a song played during his programme for an investigation.

This action, however, is being viewed by Ragashanti as a personal attack. During the interview yesterday, he accused the commission of being intolerant of anyone who is from the grass roots. "They are ... dictator-like. They have a very profane disdain for ghetto people." Begging to be quoted, Stewart said, "They are an independent entity that is out of control. I understand their role to protect children from sexual content but why can't their actions be questioned?"

The commission in their statement on Wednesday also said that they had received a bomb threat at 12:21 p.m. "The caller used expletives and alleged that the commission was threatening to remove the host of the Newstalk 93 FM programme, 'Ragashanti Live' ... and, in return, action would be taken against the commission, specifically that a bomb had been planted at its office to be detonated in the afternoon," the release stated.

Bomb threat

'Raga' does not believe, however, that there were any threats made to the commission. He accused the entity of trying to make a case by mentioning a threat. "Every time we have tried to talk about the injustices and inconsistencies of the commission, they scream bomb threat. All I can say is that this bomb threat argument is suspect."

When the STAR contacted the Broadcasting Commission yesterday, Nicole Morrison, information and public relations officer said: "With reference to the bomb threat, the Commission has not been advised by the police of any new development."

Sadeke Brooks also contributed to this report.