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February
25, 2003
Dear
Ms Chatterjee/Ms Dasgupta
I respond to your letter of 18th February 2003,
addressed to the
editor-in-chief and have the following to state:
a) I am aware of all the facts surrounding the
termination of Ms Rina
Mukherji's services from The Statesman
and can state with authority that there is no
truth whatsoever to her allegations of sexual
harassment at the hands of Mr Ishan Joshi, News
Coordinator, or anyone else.
b)
Ms Mukherji's services were not terminated by
Mr Joshi, but by me. She was a probationary journalist
and I was not satisfied with her work. The termination
was entirely consistent with the terms of Ms Mukherji's
appointment.
c)
I am not sure if you are aware of Ms Mukherji's
correspondence with The Statesman. For
your edification, I enclose a copy of her letter
to us, and of my reply to her. These are self-explanatory.
d)
I am aware that a journalist of some experience,
as Ms Mukherji is, may feel distraught at being
asked to leave an organisation, and that this
may result in psychological stress. To suggest,
however, that the reasons for this stress lie
in alleged sexual harassment is dishonest, as
well as
being defamatory to both the organization and
the individual in question.
e)
There is nothing in what you say or suggest, or
indeed in what Ms
Mukherji had to say to us in her letter of 30th
January, to support the view that the presence
of a Sexual Harassment Complaints Committee would
have emboldened her to speak up about the alleged
sexual harassment sooner that the 3 months and
18 days she actually took to do so. Ms Mukherji's
allegation is clearly an afterthought.
f)
I do not propose to enter into a discussion with
you on a Sexual Harassment Complaints Committee.
I do not recognize your authority to address me
on this subject.
Yours
faithfully,
Ravindra Kumar
Editor and Managing Director
The Statesman Ltd.
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