A day after Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit tendered an apology to a journalist of THE WEEK for patting her cheek during a press conference in Chennai, senior BJP leader S.V. Shekar stirred up a controversy after sharing a Facebook post which makes outrageous and offensive comments against women journalists.
The fresh controversy is expected to put further pressure on the saffron party as it came hours after senior party leader H. Raja called DMK leader Kanimozhi an illegitimate child of Karunanidhi.
The sexist post shared by Shekar and titled “Madurai university, governor and the virgin vheeks of a girl” claimed that the journalist, Lakshmi Subramanian, had made accusation against the governor with sole motive to defame the BJP government at the Centre.
In an apparent dig at THE WEEK reporter's tweet that she washed her face several times after the governor touched her cheek, the post said: “The governor should wash his hands with phenyle for touching her.”
The post allegedly written by one Thirumalai S. went on to make shocking and utterly disparaging comments on women and claimed that more sexual abuses happen in media houses than in universities. A woman cannot become a reporter or news reader without sleeping with bigwigs, it said.
“Illiterate scoundrels are now in media, she (THE WEEK journalist) is not an exception to that. Sexual abuses are more in media than in educational institutions. No one can become a reporter or news anchor without sleeping with some big shots,” it said.
“There are only few exceptions. I respect only them. Otherwise, the whole of TN media is in a regressive path caught in the hands of criminals, rascals, blackmailers,” read the post, shared by the BJP leader.
The post has later disappeared from Facebook. Shekhar told the Indian Express that Thirumalai was a strong BJP supporter in the US. “I didn’t read the post fully before I shared it. I will never abuse anyone. I wanted to delete that post, but Facebook has blocked it. I cannot access my account for the next 24 hours,” he told the paper.
The post, however, has already sparked off an outrage with senior journalists demanding that the party come up with an explanation.
Journalists in Chennai will protest before the BJP state headquarters in the city on Friday, demanding action against Shekher.
Earlier, Purohit had apologised to Lakshmi after she lodged a protest over the governor touching her cheek during the press meet called to discuss the allegations of sexual abuses on students at a university in Tamil Nadu. The incident had triggered a widespread uproar with journalists from across the country condemning the governor's action.