BJP leader S Ve Shekhar has been making headlines for the past week or so for a derogatory Facebook post he made, insinuating that women journalists “sleep around” for work. A case was filed against him by Tamil Nadu Journalist Protection Welfare Association, and his anticipatory bail plea was also rejected by the Madras High Court. Yet, Shekhar has not been arrested.
On Sunday morning, DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi slammed the police inaction in the case, and pointed out that making up for derogatory speech by apologies had become something of a norm.
Her post on social media read:
“Even after the High Court dismissed S Ve Shekher's anticipatory bail petition for having posted derogatory posts on Facebook about women journalists, that the police department is not arresting him is surprising. Putting up a derogatory post, then deleting it, then expressing regret is becoming a habit. Everyone has the freedom of speech to criticise but not to insult. I hope the police department takes stringent action in this regard.”
People have the right to criticise, but not to malign. I sincerely hope, the police take firm action in this regard.
— Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) April 29, 2018
The derogatory comment in question was posted by Shekhar on Facebook on April 20. It referred to the incident where a woman journalist questioned the Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit touching her cheek when she asked him a question.
Banwarilal later apologised for patting the woman on her cheek without her consent. Shekhar meanwhile, shared a Facebook post on the incident, written by Thirumalai Sa. While it didn’t name the woman journalist, the title of the post, “Madurai University, the Governor and a virgin girl’s cheek”, was given by Shekhar himself.
Among the derogatory things Shekhar said in the statement were that it was the Governor who should sanitise his hands after touching her, that Tamil Nadu media are “cheap and disgusting creatures” and mostly “illiterate, cheap and don’t have any general knowledge.” The post added, “Recently this disgusting fact has come out through complaints that women cannot become reporters or anchors unless they sleep with top bosses. And with these faces, they come out to ask questions to the Governor.”
Shekhar, who took down the said post after it caused massive outrage, claimed later that he had not even read it, and it was a mistake.
“Yesterday, my face book, a message, without reading the content, by mistake forwarded by me FROM THIRUMALAI Sa Was unintentional (sic),” he said in his statement. “When it was pointed out by a friend of mine the content was abusive one, & it was removed immediately. I do not endorse the views expressed in it. I come from a family that respects women & the women journalist.”