Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader S Ve Shekher courted controversy on Thursday, 20 April, by sharing a Facebook post commenting on the incident of the Tamil Nadu Governor patting the cheeks of a female journalist in Chennai.
In the post (which has now been taken down), derogatory remarks were made about women journalists, as reported by The Indian Express.
The Facebook post was titled “Madurai University, Governor and the Virgin Cheeks of a Girl”. The post goes on to demean female reporters and claims girls have to sleep with bigwigs to become reporters.
According to The Indian Express, the post read, “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.”
However, later the BJP leader issued an apology claiming that he had not read the post carefully before sharing it.
I had posted it without reading the message. It was removed immediately after my friend pointed it out. If I had hurt anyone, it was not on purpose & I extend my heartfelt apology.S Ve Shekher to ANI
The post was credited to ‘Thirumalai S’ who Shekher said “is a strong BJP supporter in the US”.
Journalists up in Arms
However, agitated by the comments made by the BJP leader, Chennai journalists have decided to hold a protest against Shekher and the party’s national secretary H Raja, who is accused of calling Kanimozhi an an illegitimate child.
Journalists slammed Shekher for his “progressive” remarks about the way female reporters make their way up in the industry.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and The News Minute)
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