Newslaundry investor Mahesh Murthy has yet again become the epicentre of a social media controversy after his old tweet against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati went viral.
In a tweet dated September 4, 2012, he wrote, “Government okays SCT/ST reservation for promotions. Next SC/ST reservation in your sex life! Finally, Mayawati gets action.” The despicable tweet was directed at the BSP chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister after she had given nod to include reservation in promotions. Murthy, an accused in 2018 #MeToo case, was however quick to delete the tweet after it had gone viral on Monday.
On Tuesday (May 25), Mahesh Murthy apologised for saying ‘dumb things’ in a ‘poor attempt at humour.’ He tweeted, “Folks, I said some stupid things on twitter about caste, reservations and politics some 9 years ago. I was dumber then, and it was a poor attempt at humour. I have since deleted those tweets and I apologise for the offence they may have caused. Sorry.”
Folks, I said some stupid things on twitter about caste, reservations and politics some 9 years ago. I was dumber then, and it was a poor attempt at humour. I have since deleted those tweets and I apologise for the offence they may have caused. Sorry.
— Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) May 25, 2021
Interestingly, Mahesh Murthy funds the left-propagandist website, Newslaundry, which claims to be an independent organisation. Although Newslaundry has been vocal about women rights in India and the #MeToo movement, it has remained silent in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct against its investor.
Sexual harassment allegations against Mahesh Murthy
In 2017, several media organisation including OpIndia had reported allegations of sexual harassment against Newslaundry investor Murthy made by six women — three of who went on record with their experience. The accounts of the harassment had happened in the past from 2003 to 2016. Pankaj Mishra, founder of technology website FactorDaily, in a series of tweets, had accused venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy who is also an investor in the Left-leaningself-proclaimed ‘media watchdog‘, Newslaundry.
The reports which highlighted sexual misconduct of Murthy stated that an author named Rashmi Bansal and a woman journalist had accused Murthy of inappropriate behaviour, ranging from inappropriate electronic messages to verbal advances to physical grabbing. Murthy had also allegedly sent an inappropriate message, “Hey babe, one’s supposed to celebrate Diwali by blowing a pataka. So can I go down on you please? :-)” to a woman government officer in Delhi.
The report had stated that many people knew of Murthy’s alleged misbehaviour, but no one has taken a stand against him except an IT giant. A woman executive was allegedly asked “Are you a virgin” by Murthy back in 2006, and then the company blacklisted Murthy’s digital media company, Pinstorm.