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Hi,
I used to work for The Statesman, Calcutta,
as a reporter and sub editor, from 1999 to June
2002. At present I'm working on my first novel
out of Gainesville, Florida, where I'm enrolled
in the creative writing programme at the University
of Florida.
My letter to to you is about Rina Mukherjee's
complaints against Ishan Joshi.
I know that as a woman I'm expected to rave and
rant about all the predatory men in journalism,
and that as a former colleague of both Mukherjee
and Joshi's, I'm probably expected to come up
with some interesting revelations supporting the
former's accusations at this point. Unfortunately,
I can't do that.
I was incredulous when I first read about this
entire matter sitting here in my apt in Florida.
I was working for The Statesman when Rina Mukherjee
worked there briefly, and I will say, very candidly,
that she was considered by most of her peers to
be an incompetent journalist. it was, therefore,
no surprise to anyone to see her go.
However, during the entire time that she was there,
no one ever saw Ishan Joshi behave in any manner
that might be considered inappropriate or unprofessional
towards her. We all crossed each other's paths
often, and, as you can well imagine, the gossip
network was phenomenal. It would have been extremely
hard for the sort of public harassment that Mukherjee
claims, to have gone unnoticed.
As a former colleague of Joshi's, I can also vouch
for the fact that he took special precautions
when around women, to ensure that no one ever
accused him of sexual harassment. I think he made
a special effort to do this because before he
joined The Statesman, there had been rumours and
complaints within the organisation of a similar
nature, which were then resolved internally. As
a result, Joshi always seemed to be particularly
cautious when interacting with female colleagues.
Having been a part of Indian journalism for a
few years, and that too at a young age, when I
was in my mid-twenties, I can say for sure that
there is a lot of sexual harassment out there.
I myself had to often ward off advances from senior
colleagues both within and outside the organisation.
I also believe that adequate support did not exist
where it should have. I think anyone who has worked
with me will know just how seriously I took the
issue of sexual harassment and how hard I tried
to raise some sort of awareness about it among
some of my peers. It was, and I am sure, continues
to be, an uphill struggle, one that should by
no means be abandoned.
Which is why it makes me extremely sad and angry
to find a ludicrous case being made by Rina Mukherjee,
the kind of thing that makes the larger picture
for women weaker. After this, I can't really blame
men for not taking us seriously when real cases
of harassment occur.
Here in the United States, I am far removed from
The Statesman and its workings. Nor am I in touch
with any of my former colleagues. I have no stake
in Indian journalism personally. But when I came
across Mukherjee's complaint, I was so horrified
by her absurd fabrications, and so bemused by
the reactions of other members, who are obviously
being misled and, it appears, rather easily, by
this complainant, that, out of shame and disgust
and, undoubtedly some sorrow for the organisation
I was once part of, I felt compelled to join NWM
and write this.
Please, ladies, don't cry wolf until you really
see one. It doesn't help.
Oindrila Mukherjee
More
on Rina's case:
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