The Statesman staffer's letter to the editor
 |
| Network news |
|
| The Statesman staffer's letter to the editor |
|
A
former colleague at The Statesman, Kolkata, Ms.
Rina Mukherji, has made certain shocking allegations
about a colleague of ours, Ishan Joshi, in an
1. In her e-mail, Ms. Mukherji has alleged that Mr. Joshi was not just pawing her in the corridors, but even in the News Room, in full view of every one. She has further alleged that Mr. Joshi's hands would always be on hers, if she ever happened to be within range, notwithstanding the presence of the Chief Reporter, the News Editors, and sundry senior and junior colleagues. This allegation is a lie. We work in an open-plan news room, a hall measuring approximately 60 feet by 60 feet. Workstations are arranged in such a manner that each of us either faces the wall, or other colleagues. There are four glass cabins, occupied by Mr. Joshi, the Art Director, the Assistant Editor (Features) and the News Editor/Deputy News Editor. These cabins DO NOT have full height partitions. None of us have ever seen Mr. Joshi paw Ms. Mukherji, either in the News Room, or in the corridors or elsewhere. Each of us has seen interactions between Mr. Joshi and Ms. Mukherji on various occasions during her employment at The Statesman, and can state without reservation that these were always professional. 2. Ms. Mukherji has alleged that several people were provoked to whisper or look quizzically by Mr. Joshi's alleged conduct. This, too, is a lie. As no incidents of the sort she described took place, the question of there having been such reactions does not arise. 3. Ms. Mukherji has alleged that from July-end the harassment reached such levels that Mr. Joshi would stalk her all over the office and paw her all the time. She has stated further that by this time she had made friends in the office and was able to confide in them. This, too, is a lie. Any one who has visited The Statesman will bear out that ours is an open office and that kind of actions Ms. Mukherji talks about are just not possible. Further, we can - each one of us - confirm that Ms. Mukherji never complained of any form of sexual harassment during the period of her employment with The Statesman to any of us. 4. Ms. Mukherji claims that the formation of a Sexual Harassment Committee at The Statesman was somehow a consequence of her efforts. This,
too, is a lie. In June 2002, many of us were present
at a staff meeting where the Managing Editor,
Mr. Ravindra Kumar, read out a letter received
by the newspaper from the chairperson of the National
Commission for Women, asking if The Statesman
had formed such a committee. He then told us that
we would need to set up such committees at both
Kolkata and New Delhi, and asked those of us who
were interested to volunteer to serve on the committee.
There was a fairly long discussion on the subject.
The committee was formed after a sufficient number
of people had volunteered, and after counsel had
vetted the draft documentation.
Esha
Bhattacharjee, Reporter-cum-Sub-editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More on Rina's case:
|
