Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit today apologised to a woman reporter whose cheek he publicly patted yesterday, a gesture that provoked outrage by her and the journalist fraternity and protests by opposition parties.
In a letter to Lakshmi Subramanian, the 78-year-old under-fire governor said she was like her "granddaughter" and that his gesture stemmed from "affection" and "appreciation" of her performance as a journalist.
Subramanian, who works for an English news magazine, responded to the governor's letter with an e-mail where she accepted his apology "even though I am not convinced about your contention that you did it to appreciate a question I asked".
Purohit had kicked up a huge row yesterday when he patted the journalist on her cheek "patronisingly", apparently to diplomatically avoid replying to a question asked by her.
A livid Subramanian immediately took to Twitter to voice her anger, saying, "I asked TN Governor Banwarilal Purohit a question as his press conference was ending. He decided to patronisingly - and without consent - pat me on the cheek as a reply."
Subramanian also wrote an e-mail to him, saying "Here is what I have to say his excellency Governor Mr Banwarilal Purohit... so agitated... Mr Purohit. it might be an act of appreciation by you and grandfatherly attitude, but to me you are wrong."
The journalist fraternity took umbrage against the governor's conduct, with the Chennai Press Club and some 200 journalists remonstrating with Purohit for his conduct and demanding an apology.
The DMK, which had last night denounced the governor's action, today staged protest and demanded his recall. Pro-Tamil outfit Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi too held a demonstration.
In his letter to Subramanian, the governor said he thought a question she had asked was a "good one", and as an act of appreciation for the query he gave her a pat.
"I gave a pat on your cheek considering you to be like my granddaughter. It was done with affection and to express my appreciation for your performance as a journalist," he said and recalled he was also a journalist for about 40 years.
Referring to the mail Subramanian had sent to him, Purohit said, "I do understand from your mail that you are feeling hurt about the incident". Therefore, he said, he wished to "express my regret and my apologies to assuage your sentiments that have been hurt".
After the patgate broke last night, the Chennai Press Club in a letter to Purohit said the governor's conduct at the press meet was "neither exemplary nor condonable."
Bharathithamizhan, Joint Secretary of the club, said there was an "imminent danger" of other politicians emulating the governor and trying to misbehave with women journalists.
"We request you to immediately issue an apology for your unbecoming conduct...and avoid precipitating the matter further," he said.
He said the governor could have refused to reply to the questions posed by the woman reporter. "But, instead of answering or refusing to answer, you chose to pat the cheek of the lady scribe in front of her peers and live cameras," he said.
Former Chennai city mayor and DMK MLA M Subramanian, who led the party's protest, also slammed Purohit for his regular review meetings with state officials.
The DMK has been protesting against these meetings, saying those amounted to the Raj Bhavan infringing on the rights of the state government.
Subramanian, party MLA V Chandrasekar and scores of DMK workers were detained by police.
The TVK also staged a protest, with several of its workers and supporters taken into custody.
The nearly 200 journalists wrote to the governor, demanding an "unconditional apology". Expressing "shock", they said Purohit, as the constitutional head of the state, "crossed lines of not just basic courtesy but also those of the law."
"Your action in touching the cheek of a senior 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," they said.
"Mr Governor, we the journalists 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," they demanded, dubbing Purohit's conduct as "appalling".
The incident happened during a rare press meet called by Purohit where he promised strict action in the episode involving a woman college teacher who allegedly advised girl students to extend sexual favours to senior university officials.
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