After its own ‘star’ journalist, Vinod Dua, was accused of sexual harassment in the ongoing #Metoo movement, The Wire’s position has become a bit defensive on the issue. However, in a new low, The Wire not only backed Vinod Dua, but also allowed him to issue a clarification that reeks more of victim shaming rather than coming clean on the allegations and proving his innocence.
Watch how @VinodDua7 shamelessly insinuates that MeToo cases are a smokescreen to divert attention from criticism of Modi govt. @thewire_in have deleted this video from their YouTube channel and uploaded a new video in which this 👇🏼 portion has been heavily edited. pic.twitter.com/yNkQrubTI4
— Spaminder Bharti (@attomeybharti) October 17, 2018
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156839543834680
For those unaware, under the MeToo banner, Nishtha Jain posted her ordeal on Facebook where she accused Vinod Dua of not only passing lewd comments at her, but also verbally abusing her and stalking her when she resisted. She also criticized his daughter and comedienne Mallika Dua for her hypocritical stance, when her own father was allegedly guilty of such crimes.
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156830464504680
But it was the response of The Wire to these allegations that not only exposed their hypocritical stance, but also forced Nishtha Jain to come out of her sabbatical from Facebook and go hammer and tongs against both The Wire and Vinod Dua. The Wire, in their response had indicated towards setting up an external committee that would seemingly address Nishtha Jain’s complaints and send a signal that The Wire is not silent on the charges, but actively working for the victims under the MeToo campaign.
However, the posts shared by Nishtha from her Facebook timeline say otherwise:
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156831776199680
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156833390734680
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156833559984680
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156839244599680
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156839489709680
Not only is Vinod Dua shamelessly setting the terms for his clarification, he also shamed the victims of the MeToo movement, calling them as opportunistic and a part of the conspiracy to divert the attention from the ‘skyrocketing fuel prices’ and the ‘corruption on Rafale deal’, as circulated in his propaganda series ‘Jan Gan Man ki Baat’ . Trust someone to be this shameless on the grave allegations imposed against him.
What is worse, and worrying however, is the way The Wire allowed this person to shamelessly use their platform to mould the public opinion in his favor, apart from the victim shaming by Vinod Dua. No wonder why someone rightly said, ‘The only thing worse than a liar is the liar that is also a hypocrite’, and now it seems that Vinod Dua satisfies all the parameters of this quote.
Nishtha Jain just didn’t stop at that. She also exposed Vinod’s stance on this issue, where he gave The Wire a week to investigate the issue, and just one day to her to state her grievances! He even added, of all things, that forced kissing doesn’t amount to sexual harassment, as noted below:
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156839511629680
Had this been said by M J Akbar, the same Vinod Dua and Mallika Dua would’ve brought the whole house down, howling and screeching on the audacity. Is there no limit to shamelessness Mr. Vinod Dua? This is no more a personal allegation, but a legal case, and such attitude resorts to mocking the legal process as well. Has Vinod Dua and The Wire considered themselves above law?
Exposing the hypocrisy of The Wire further, Nishtha shared the post of a fellow victim who exposed the attitude of The Wire to previous cases of the same nature, as noted below:
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156839433604680
She also shared screenshots of how filmmaker Kamal Swaroop , who occasionally wrote for The Wire as well, shamed her on her allegations against Vinod Dua:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156834557614680&set=a.95449419679&type=3&theater
In this episode, we must salute Nishtha Jain for not bowing down to the victim shaming and standing resolute. We only wonder how long will Vinod Dua and The Wire continue with their shameless attitude. The time is up now.
