Sunday, 24 November 2013 | Kanchan Gupta | in Coffee Break
From maudlin confession to lachrymose contrition to “lacerating atonement” to accusing the victim of his “lapse of judgement” of manufacturing a “totally mendacious account of what happened, in its details, in its tonalities, in its very suggestion of non-consensus” to claiming “I am being framed… political forces are driving much of it”, Tarun Tejpal, Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka, has done what those facing charges of sexual offences inevitably do: Come up with a different version. For instance, we have often heard “she was wearing provocative clothes”, or that “she didn’t seem to mind”, or even “she was asking for it”, being said in self-defence by molesters and rapists. Tarun Tejpal is treading the same path as is his confidante Shoma Chaudhury, Managing Editor of Tehelka, who has been in the forefront of what is easily one of the crudest cover-up operations in recent times to obfuscate facts and obstruct the course of justice. Tarun Tejpal has added a twist to the cover-up tale by making out his alleged crime to be no more than an elaborate political conspiracy to frame him.
In the absence of a formal complaint by the victim to the police, it would be incorrect to place in the public domain an elaborate version of what Tarun Tejpal has been accused of. To do so would require quoting from the victim’s several e-mails to Tarun Tejpal and Shoma Chaudhury — that would not only be unethical but also illegal. However, this does not preclude a brief recount of what is alleged to have happened in Goa earlier this month during the ‘Think’ festival organised by Tehelka and sponsored by corporates who are not exactly known for either ‘thinking’ or otherwise promoting intellectual activity. According to a junior journalist at Tehelka, whose father is a journalist and who is young enough to be Tarun Tejpal’s daughter, she was sexually assaulted by her boss on two successive days. He has been accused of using the confines of a hotel elevator to force himself on her, disregarding her protests and pitiful please. On both occasions the journalist confided in her colleagues who were as stupefied as her — and possibly too much in awe of their boss to confront him there and then.
After returning to Delhi, the journalist lodged a complaint with Shoma Chaudhury, demanding an inquiry and an apology. In the meanwhile, she received several text messages from Tarun Tejpal who initially tried to browbeat her and then sought to sweet talk her into remaining silent. What followed is now public knowledge. Tarun Tejpal announced his stepping down from office for six months to do “lacerating atonement” and offered an unconditional apology to the journalist. Shoma Chaudhury described whatever happened in Goa as an “untoward incident”, an “internal issue” that had been “resolved”, and pompously called for rescuing the ‘institution’. If they had thought this would put a lid on the shameful episode, they had clearly miscalculated. Their e-mails were leaked to the media by enraged staff members; the journalist was appalled by the cover-up; and social media went into overdrive, forcing the fraternity to take notice of what would have been simply ignored before the advent of Facebook and Twitter.
Clearly both Tarun Tejpal and Shoma Chaudhury have acted the way they have, firm in the belief that the ‘celebrity’ status of the former and the pretentious sanctimonious preaching of the latter, along with an obliged Establishment and a grateful Congress, would provide them with immunity from both scrutiny and prosecution. They equally believed, though foolishly so, that Tehelka enjoys such a towering reputation that no one would dare call out its boss — or bosses, if you prefer. In the event, their faith in their invincibility and immunity, if not also infallibility, has proved to be as bogus as the bunkum they have been peddling to distract attention from the alleged criminal deeds of Tarun Tejpal and the hideous efforts of Shoma Chaudhury to gloss over them, slyly, craftily. At another ‘Think’ fest Tarun Tejpal, urging the gathered ‘thinkers’ to eat, drink and jump into bed with whoever caught their fancy, had said “whatever happens in Goa, remains in Goa”. That assurance given to others hasn’t quite turned out to be true for him.
Irrespective of the denouement of the unfolding drama at Tehelka, there are three issues that merit serious comment and attention. First, the safety of women in their workplace — do employers and team leaders really provide a safe environment for women in offices? One survey suggests more than 70 per cent women feel unsafe, especially doing night shifts, at their workplace. That could be an exaggeration; after all not all men are predators. But even if fears are largely misplaced, the fact that they exist only serves to underscore the need for making women feel safe and secure. For that, employers and team leaders have to sensitise staff as well as put into place mechanisms to deter potential abusers. One such mechanism is to set up a cell to deal with allegations of sexual harassment. Second, organisations — let us not make this word synonymous with ‘institutions’ —should adopt a policy of zero tolerance towards sexual harassment and misdemeanour. The great Indian rope-trick of striking a ‘compromise’ between victim and perpetrator which exists as common practice must be banished from every workplace. There can be no halfway house in dealing with sexual offenders. Third, women have to be more strong-willed and their colleagues have to rally round them. There is no percentage in stepping back after lodging a complaint, irrespective of the consequences. A crime may involve individuals, but the possibility of the crime being repeated endangers society at large.
Tehelka has failed on all three fronts. It is only after the scandal became public knowledge that Shoma Chaudhury, in her capacity as Managing Editor, scrambled to put together a sexual harassment complaints cell. But even in this the emphasis was more on making a show of it — “We will have Urvashi Butalia, we will have a Swedish feminist…” — than on sincerity of purpose. Incidentally, Urvashi Butalia is known to be a friend of Tarun Tejpal and part of the Lutyens elite whose exalted members are not known for letting each other down. That apart, in the din of the outrage over what is alleged to have transpired, some crucial facts have been lost sight of. The Supreme Court’s guidelines in the Vishaka case have been flouted. It was incumbent upon Tehelka to report the incident, as alleged, to the police because it constitutes a cognizable offence. This omission is all the more glaring in view of the recent Supreme Court judgement making it mandatory for the police to file an FIR against those accused of committing any cognizable offence. Second, it is absurd to treat the issue as ‘internal’. There is nothing ‘internal’ about anything that amounts to an offence under the IPC. Third, the belligerence of Tehelka’s management, that is its Managing Editor, sends out all the wrong signals to women who are already working or aspire to get a job. Her haughty, caustic demeanour, her rude disregard for civility and humility, her taunting responses to queries by media, and her callous indifference to the trauma of the victim strengthen popular notions, no matter how erroneous, of workplaces as being unsafe for women. Truth be told, she comes across as an accomplice.
It remains to be seen whether la affaire Tehelka is taken to its logical conclusion. Now that the person accused of raping — that’s what the alleged deeds amount to as per the new law on sexual offences and Supreme Court rulings — his junior colleague has raised the bogey of “political forces” conspiring against him, we could well see our bold and beautiful Left-liberals rushing to his defence. After all, Tarun Tejpal is a shining example of what Left-liberalism stands for in this wondrous land of ours.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi)
Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/coffee-break/tehelka-boss-drops-his-pants-blames-political-forces.html
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