Chennai:
A day after Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit apologised to a woman journalist for patting her cheek during a press conference in Chennai, senior BJP leader S Ve Shekher Thursday courted controversy by sharing a Facebook post that made derogatory remarks about women journalists.
The Facebook post shared by Shekher is titled “Madurai University, Governor and the Virgin Cheeks of a Girl”. It claimed that more sexual abuses happen in media houses than in universities. It also claimed that a woman cannot become a reporter or news reader without sleeping with bigwigs.
“This ugly truth has come out through the complaints raised recently. These are the (using a derogatory word) women who have come out to question the Governor. Media people are the cheap, lowly, ugly, vulgar beings of Tamil Nadu. 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.
Shekher shared the post with a credit at the beginning — “From Thirumalai S”. Shekher told The agencies that Thirumalai is a “strong BJP supporter” in the US. “I met him during my visit to US. He told me he is a supporter of (PM Narendra) Modi,” Shekher said. “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.”
Demanding action against Shekher, journalists in Chennai will protest on Friday before the BJP state headquarters in Chennai.