A serious lapse in judgement....

The other day Dr.Sumramanium Swamy startled a TV anchor by saying that folk in the media need to be investigated too for what he called owning 'large farm' houses and possessing disproportionate wealth. Well the anchor, ducked that one fairly easily but Indian media will find it very difficult to duck the one on Tarun Tejpal the founder and Founder Editor at Tehelka. Tejpal has been in the news for various reasons, with a sting operation on the BJP where he exposed the wheeling and dealing of politicians to his incisive writing and novels. However, now he has raised hackles due to his alleged unsolicited advances towards a young woman staffer working at his newspaper. The young lady resisted and has since protested. Apparently the newspaper in question did not have the mandatory committee to deal with sexual harassment and her grievances were not given due consideration. Something which the Tehalka management, under siege, finds itself at a loss to explain to a nation that is upset and annoyed. To add insult to injury, Tejpal claims that it was a bad lapse of judgement and that it was a serious misreading of the situation. Here the case gets murky because Tejpal seems to be insinuating that he was not entirely at fault and at worst he made a mistake as he misread the situation. He has offered to step down from his position for a period of six months! India today is at the proverbial crossroads. As the demographic dividend plays out and young women join the organized work force, it is going to be very difficult for predatory men to understand that there is a definite line between flirting and harassment. Tejpal indeed made some serious lapses in judgement, more, so that the laws of the land cannot be trifled with, however drunk with power one is. The Goa government, where this alleged incident occurred has since taken suo sponte cognizance of this act and might investigate further. And they should, not because of the earlier skirmishes that the BJP and Tehalka have had, but because a clear message needs to be sent out to macho men who cannot keep their hands to themselves. A few hours before the news broke I was discussing a case of sexual harassment at Mitsubishi and Tarun Tejpal provided an interesting coincidence. Workplaces are not arenas for power play and projection of dominance over what one considers to be a weaker person. Bullying and harassment are the pastime of the uncivilized and those who do not understand that need to be pursued and punished with all speed.