Journalists letter to TN Governor on his ‘attempt to touch a lady’

A group of nearly 200 journalists have written a letter to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday, expressing “great shock” at “harassment of senior journalist by your esteemed self”. The full text of the letter is reproduced below:

To

Shri Banwarilal Purohit

The Governor of Tamil Nadu

Raj Bhavan, Chennai-600 002

From,

The journalists of Tamil Nadu

Respected Sir,

Subject: Harassment of senior journalist by your esteemed self

It is with great shock that we write this letter to you. As the Constitutional head of our State of Tamil Nadu, you have crossed lines of not just basic courtesy but also those of the law.

Your action today in touching the cheek of a senior lady lady reporter who asked you a question at the press meet was patronising at best and a violation of her rights as a woman at worst. She was there since you had called for a press meet and simply discharging her duty as a journalist.

We do not wish to question your motives on this gesture, considering that it is appalling that you should choose to do such a thing at a press meet that you addressed on the case of a professor allegedly luring students to sexual encounters with her seniors and who claimed to know you.

It, however, does not behove the Constitutional head of a State to throw basic courtesy and respect to the winds and attempt to touch a lady without her consent, even if the gesture may have been ‘paternal’ in nature.

We would like to draw your attention to Section 2 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998, which defines ‘harassment’.

“Harassment” means any indecent conduct or act by a man which causes or is likely to cause intimidation, fear, shame or embarrassment, including abusing or causing hurt or nuisance or assault or use of force.

We would also urge you to read this along with Section 4 of the same Act which is reproduced below for your kind perusal.

“Whoever commits or participates or abets harassment of women in or within the precincts of any educational institution, temple or place of worship, bus stop, road, railway station, cinema theatre, park, beach, place of festival, public service vehicle or vessel or any other place shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with a fine, which shall not be less than Rs.10,000.”

The offence is cognisable and non-bailable as your esteemed staff will point out.

Mr Governor, we the journalists of Tamil Nadu and India demand that you offer an unconditional apology to the journalist in question and also assure all journalists of Tamil Nadu that you will not violate their rights in the future.

Thanking you.

Sincerely,

Journalists undersigned

1. Sandhya Ravishankar, Independent Journalist, Chennai

2. Priyamvadha P, India Today TV, Delhi

3. Ramesh, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

4. Gokul, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

5. Suman, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

6. Ramachandran, Thanthi TV, Chennai

7. Satheesh, News18 Tamil Nad, Chennai

8. John Britto, Dina Thanthi, Chennai

9. Saradha, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

10. Mathiyazhagan, News7, Chennai

11. Sadaiyandi, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

12. Dhayanandhan, News7, Chennai

13. Lavanya, News7, Chennai

14. Priyanka Thirumurthy, The News Minute, Chennai

15. Sundar, Dinamalar, Chennai

16. ETB Sivapriyan, Deccan Herald, Chennai

17. Anbuselvan, Sun News, Chennai

18. Manoj Prabakar, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

19. Arun, Makkal TV, Chennai

20. Sam Pradeep, Sathiyam TV, Chennai

21. Jayachandran, Cauvery News, Chennai

22. Rejimon Kuttappan, Independent journalist, Trivandrum

23. Sreshtha Tiwari, Chennai

24. Manikandan, Win News, Chennai

25. CV Anumod, Asianet News, Chennai

26. Sharmila, Sun News, Chennai

27. Shabbir Ahmed, Times Now, Chennai

28. Mohammed Imranullah S, Chennai

29. Lalitha Ranjani, The New Indian Express, Madurai

30. Subramanian, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

31. Mugilan, NewsX, Chennai

32. Shalini Lobo, India Today TV, Chennai

33. V Lokpria, NewsX, Chennai

34. R Subash Prabhu, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

35. Muthukrishnan, Polimer TV, Chennai

36. Gunalan, Sun TV, Chennai

37. S Manikandan, CMPC, Chennai

38. Haseef, CMPC, Chennai

39. Vishnu, CMPC, Chennai

40. Tamilarasan, CMPC & Kalaignar TV, Chennai

41. Jayabathuri, Sun TV, Chennai

42. Priya, Sathiyam TV, Chennai

43. Nithiyanathan, Sathiyam TV, Chennai

44. Arun, News7, Chennai

45. Devendiran, News7, Chennai

46. Velmurugan, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

47. M Sathish, Thanthi TV, Chennai

48. Arunmozhivarman, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

49. RK Jagadeesh, Kalaignar TV, Chennai

50. Sivaraman, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

51. Searma Samy, FX16 TV, Chennai

52. R Jeyalakshmi, The New Indian Express, Madurai

53. Gokul Vannan, Freelance journalist, Madurai

54. Mohan, Makkal TV, Chennai

55. Anand, Makkal TV, Chennai

56. K Rajasekar, IBC Tamil, Chennai

57. Pramod Madhav, Mirror Now, Chennai

58. Rajkumar, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

59. Kabish Balakrishnan, Redpix, Chennai

60. Ponmanaselvan S, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

61. Ratheesh Chodon, Manorama News, Chennai

62. Dharani Thangavelu, Mint, Chennai

63. Loganathan, Thanthi TV, Chennai

64. Shankar Jayaraman, Kalaignar TV, Chennai

65. K Sasikumar, Thanthi TV, Chennai

66. Arun Manickam, Sun News, Chennai

67. Suganthi, Sun News, Chennai

68. Dhanya Rajendran, The News Minute, Bengaluru

69. Ramanathan Subramaniam, The News Minute, Bengaluru

70. Anna Isaac, The News Minute, Bengaluru

71. Manasa Rao, The News Minute

72. Anjana Shekar, The News Minute

73. Arun Janardhanan, The Indian Express, Chennai

74. Ramanujam K, Madurai

75. J Santhosh, The New Indian Express, Chennai

76. Lalith Jude, Raj TV, Chennai

77. Nandini, Maalai Murasu TV, Chennai

78. Raymond Kharmujai

79. Geeta Seshu, Independent journalist, Mumbai (NWMI representative)

80. Neeta Kolhatkar, journalist, Mumbai

81. Bharani Vaitheeswaran, Chennai

82. Ashaly P Joy, Chennai

83. VP Raghu, DT Next, Chennai

84. J Shanmuga Sundaram, The Times of India, Chennai

85. Poornima Murali, Chennai

86. Abinaya, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

87. Sibinathan, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

88. Shiva, Sathiyam TV, Chennai

89. Shilpa Nair, Times Now, Chennai

90. Vignesh S, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

91. Mariappan, Vendhar TV, Chennai

92. Guna, Malai Murasu TV, Chennai

93. Gayathri, Raj TV, Chennai

94. Senthil, Jaya TV, Chennai

95. Sharda Ugra, journalist, Bengaluru

96. Anandakumar, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

97. Kamaraj, News7, Chennai

98. Sindhu Kannan, Times of India, Chennai

99. Saravanakumar, Polimer TV, Chennai

100. A Subburaj, Times of India, Chennai

101. Sathish, Captain TV, Chennai

102. Aarthi, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

103. Thaiyumanavan, Thanthi TV, Chennai

104. Veeramani P, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

105. Dinakar, NTV, Chennai

106. Shyam Balasubramanian, Zee News.com, Delhi

107. Rajeshwari Ganesan, freelance journalist, Delhi

108. Thanigai, BW, Chennai

109. Vinithaa, Sun News, Chennai

110. L Srikrishna, The Hindu, Madurai

111. Priyan, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

112. S Sundar, The Hindu, Madurai

113. Pon Vasanth, The Hindu, Madurai

114. Sanjana, The Hindu, Madurai

115. Tilak Chandar, The Hindu, Madurai

116. Walter Scott, The Hindu, Madurai

117. K Raju, The Hindu, Madurai

118. P Sudakar, The Hindu, Madurai

119. Praveen Paul Joseph, The Hindu, Madurai

120. Vidyashree Dharmaraj, Coimbatore

121. Ramaselvaraj, Sun News, Chennai

122. Anbuselvan, Sun News, Chennai

123. Krishna, Sun News, Chennai

124. Selvakumar, Sun News, Chennai

125. Prabakaran, Sun News, Chennai

126. Saravanan, Sun News, Chennai

127. Geethan, Sun News, Chennai

128. KK Suresh Kumar, Mathrubhumi

129. Prasanth Kanathur, Mathrubhumi

130. Sunish Jacob Mathew, Mathrubhumi

131. Sinduja Jane, The New Indian Express

132. Ameer Hamza, Dinamalar

133. A Shadik Batcha, The Hindu Tamil

134. R Sivakumar, The New Indian Express

135. Vivek Narayanan, The Hindu

136. Naomi N, News Today, Chennai

137. Harasankaran, The Statesman

138. Vinodh Arulappan, The New Indian Express, Madurai

139. Pandiaraj, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

140. Amala Rajendran, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

141. Ramakrishna, Cauvery News, Chennai

142. Meenakshi Sundaram, Dinamalar, Chennai

143. Tamilarasi, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

144. Smitha, The Quint, Chennai

145. Karthik, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

146. Nowshath, Sathiyam TV, Chennai

147. Neppolian, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

148. Sirumalar, Cauvery News, Chennai

149. Bhuvaneshwari, Chennai

150. Rosamma Thomas, journalist, Jaipur

151. Ritesh Uttamchandani, freelance journalist, Mumbai

152. M Karthik, Raj TV, Chennai

153. MJ Pandey, journalist, Mumbai

154. A Joseph, Coimbatore

155. Mageshwari, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

156. S Vivek, Thanthi TV, Chennai

157. Parth Satam, Fauji India, Mumbai

158. Sabari, Cauvery News, Chennai

159. Sanjay Gundla, Sakshi TV, Chennai

160. Prakash D, Nakkheeran, Chennai

161. R Aathithan, Dinamani

162. K Murugesh, Maalai Murasu TV, Coimbatore

163. R Senthill Kumar, Sun News, Chennai

164. A Selvaraj, Times of India, Chennai

165. Srikanth Dasarathy, Times of India, Chennai

166. Ram Sundaram, Times of India, Chennai

167. Ekatha Ann John, Times of India, Chennai

168. Siddharth Prabhakar, Times of India, Chennai

169. Pradeep, Times of India, Chennai

170. V Ayyappan, Times of India, Chennai

171. Oppili, Times of India, Chennai

172. Abdullah, Times of India, Chennai

173. Tejon, Times of India, Chennai

174. Shruthi Suresh, Times of India, Chennai

175. Sureshkumar, Times of India, Chennai

176. Yogesh, Times of India, Chennai

177. Pushpa Narayan, Times of India, Chennai

178. BR Naresh, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Chennai

179. Deepan, Captain TV, Chennai

180. Murali Krishnan, Win News

181. Darwin Geo, News7, Delhi

182. Valliappan, NBA

183. Subash Chandra Bose, News7, Chennai

184. Dushyant, journalist, Delhi

185. VM Subbaiah, Chennai

186. Jayanthi, The New Indian Express

187. Tamil Nadu Penn Oodakaviyalargal Maiyam

188. Berlin Moses, News18 Tamil Nadu, Chennai

189. Suresh, NNIS, Chennai

190. Anand Kumar, freelance journalist, Chennai

191. Sruthisagar Yamunan, Scroll.in

192. Jeeva Bharathi, Nakkheeran, Chennai

193. Arulgabriel, Raj TV, Chennai

194. Mugavaishiva, Dinamani