A reporter was suspended for asking Annamalai to clarify rumours that he had met Senthil Balaji's brother in London.
Published Jul 01, 2023 | 12:19 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 01, 2023 | 1:22 AM
It is not the first time that Annamalai has mocked, make fun of, and been angry at the reporters. (Screengrab)
“Journalists should never become the story,” goes the saying. But sometimes journalists, too, become news. One such incident occurred when a media house suspended one of its reporters for doing what he was meant to do: Ask questions.
The journalist in question, Mahesh, was among a bevy of reporters waiting for Annamalai, who was returning after a six-day trip to the United Kingdom. The reporters crowded around him once he came out of the Chennai airport.
The young journalist from Thanthi Television, a 24×7 news channel, sought clarification on a rumour that has been doing the rounds. Did Annamalai meet Minister V Senthil Balaji’s brother in London?
Annamalai, known to have a very short fuse when it comes to uncomfortable questions, flew off the handle on hearing the one posed by Mahesh. Instead of replying, the former IPS officer began interrogating him.
“You should not pose questions like a Class 8 student There is a legacy to Thanthi. You should not ask questions like a person who drinks tea from roadside stalls,” the BJP leader said.
He then sought to know the source of the journalist’s information.
“Is it the Intelligence Department? Did Anbil Magesh (minister for school education) tell you? Did Udhayanidhi Stalin call you? Who is your source? If you have the right to question me as a journalist, I too have the right to question you back. Tell me who gave you this information,” Annamalai thundered.
Reporters seldom reveal their sources, as it would compromise their safety.
The BJP state president did not stop there. He wanted to know if Chief Minister MK Stalin or his wife Durga personally called the reporter to provide the information, or if she rang up the owner of Thanthi.
“Did you get the question out of your imagination? Did you dream about it in the morning,” he ranted, before shifting to preaching mode.
“Other reporters, don’t mistake me. As a journalist, you should have basic common sense. You should not defame Thanthi TV. You are representing it. The viewers who are watching this should not think that what kind of journalist Thanthi TV has. When you represent a TV, you uphold that TV,” he said.
Annamalai did not listen to the reporter’s explanation.
“I am saying that DMK, yesterday, gave you ₹1,000 to ask me this question. Would you deny it? Am I here to fold my hands and answer your questions,” he fumed.
The reporter went back to his office and was reportedly targeted by his senior editorial colleagues for putting “embarrassing” questions to the BJP state chief.
Sources in Thanthi TV confirmed to South First that the reporter was asked to surrender his identity card. Later, after an editorial meeting, he was placed under suspension.
“The best defence is a good offence,” goes an oft-quoted adage. Whenever faced with an uncomfortable question, Annamalai goes on the offensive, and skirts the question. And his run-ins with journalists are legendary.
On 4 January, Annamalai wanted the reporters to identify their organisations before he answered them. The occasion was a news conference at Kamalayalam, the BJP’s state headquarters.
During the same news conference, he lambasted a reporter of a leading 24/7 news channel for asking a question about the death of a woman.
In May 2022, during a press briefing in Chennai, Annamalai asked reporters to collect money — ₹1,000 to ₹3,000 from Arivalayam (DMK’s headquarters) when questioned about the banners the BJP had put up during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
On 27 October, 2022, Annamalai likened journalists to monkeys jumping from tree to tree. A couple of days after the incident, he exploded when reporters in Coimbatore demanded an apology for the monkey analogy.
Annamalai was addressing a news conference in connection with the Coimbatore car bomb blast when journalists sought an apology.
The intolerance is clear. The BJP and right-wing organisations have been targeting journalists who question them and their ideology.
In July 2020, a right-wing YouTuber Maridhas lodged a complaint with the News 18 management, accusing certain journalists and editors, including Gunasekaran, the then editor, of supporting Dravidian ideologies and parties, including the DMK.
The complaint led to several journalists being asked to leave the organisation and resulted in protests by the media community in Chennai.
Annamalai’s latest outburst did not go down well with other political parties. The DMK Students’ Wing president R Rajiv Gandhi took to Twitter, condemning the BJP leader.
அண்ணாமலையிடம் கேள்வி கேட்ட தினத்தந்தி நிருபர் சஸ்பெண்ட் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார்!
கேள்விக்கு பதில் சொல்லுங்கள்…
அதை விட்டு உங்களின் அடாவடி புத்தியை தமிழ்நாட்டில் காட்டாதீர்..அரசியலில் தடம் தெரியாமல் வீழ்ந்து போவீர்!
Mr Ex officer @annamalai_k— R.Rajiv Gandhi ✨ (@rajiv_dmk) June 29, 2023
“Answer the questions. Don’t show your rough-and-tumble attitude in Tamil Nadu,” Gandhi tweeted.
National Vice President of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and the Central Committee Member of CPI(M) Vasuki Umanath condemned Annamalai for dragging the chief minister’s wife into the issue.
In her tweet, she questioned if this was the way Annamalai would speak about other parties.
“It is not healthy politics to talk about the women of the house while party leaders speak to the media,” she said.
அண்ணாமலை, ஊடக சந்திப்பில் திமுக வட்டாரம் என்றால் ஸ்டாலின் சொன்னாரா அவரது மனைவி துர்கா அம்மா சொன்னார்களா என்கிறார் இப்படித்தான் ஒவ்வொரு கட்சியை பற்றியும் கேட்பாரா? கட்சித் தலைவர்கள், ஊடக உரிமையாளர்கள் பற்றி பேசுகையில் அவர்கள் வீட்டு பெண்கள் குறித்து கோர்ப்பது ஆரோக்கியமான அரசியலா?
— Vasuki Umanath (@uvasuki) June 29, 2023
