The Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state president K Annamalai remained steadfast and refused to apologise for his reference to reporters as monkeys. Defending himself, Annamalai said, “I did not call reporters monkeys. I asked why reporters are jumping like monkeys and not letting me talk in order to ask for bytes. Both are different. I have not said anywhere ‘Brother, monkey. Reporter monkey’. I am not someone to change my words.”
When several reporters who attended the press meet pointed out that it essentially meant the same thing, the BJP leader maintained his stance. “Who did not speak respectfully? In the Tamil that you know, if you think that calling someone “monkey” and saying “like a monkey” are the same, I can’t do anything about it,” he said. Annamalai was addressing the press on Monday, October 31 after his visit to the Kottai Eshwaran temple in Coimbatore outside which a car blast had taken place on October 23.
Earlier on October 27, in Cuddalore during a BJP demonstration, Annamalai had become angry with media persons attempting to get quotes from him. “Is this an ambush?”, Annamalai had asked, adding “Why are you surrounding me like monkeys jumping on a tree?” At the time, he had also said, “Did I not respectfully ask you all to eat before I went myself to eat? Dogs, ghosts and arrack sellers in the state may ask questions, do I have to be replying to everything they ask?” The last, appears to be a jibe at the state minister for Prohibition and Excise V Senthil Balaji from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Annamalai was perhaps responding to media queries regarding statements made by Senthil Balaji on the Coimbatore blast. The minister had said that “The police will name the guilty persons only after investigation. In such a scenario if a certain party’s leader knows even before the information has been released, the NIA should first investigate that BJP leader.”
At the October 30 press meet in Coimbatore, when Annamalai was asked to apologise for what he said about reporters, the BJP leader refused saying, “I will not apologise. I never made a mistake. I will not apologise, it is not in my blood. When I have not done anything wrong, why should I apologise? Beyond this, it is your choice to cover my press meets or not.” He also said prior to refusing to issue an apology, “If I say someone walked like a tiger or clawed like a tiger, does that make you a tiger? Are you a tiger? Okay, then you leap like a tiger. If I say Shabbir Ahmed asked me a question like a tiger, let's see if you bite me? These are all metaphors.”
Watch: Annamalai: Didn’t call reporters monkeys, I asked why they’re jumping like monkeys