Sex, the silly old man, and a hothouse of indecent desire

PHEW, the temperature within the UN’s IPCC is obviously a lot hotter than even blowhard climate fantasist Tim Flannery might have predicted.

In what may well inspire a future Bollywood blockbuster, Rajendra Pachauri, the always controversial 74-year-old chair of the UN’s ­Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was this week forced to resign following allegations of sexual harassment made by a 29-year-old research assistant at his organisation TERI, The Energy and Resources Institute. According to Times Now, a New Delhi publication, he has “been admitted to hospital” in Delhi. On Saturday, Mail Today, another Indian publication, published the riveting texts, ­emails and WhatsApp messages sent by Pachauri over a two-year period to the reluctant object of his affections. As the newspaper reported, the texts and emails ­exchanged indicate Pachauri was relentless in his pursuit of the young woman and had on at least one occasion embraced her and even tried to kiss her. As the researcher said in her suit “all his actions and words towards me had underlying sexual undertones … over phone messages and emails.” “On many occasions Dr Pachauri forcibly grabbed my body, hugged, held my hands, kissed me and touched my body in an inappropriate manner,” she told the police. The Indian media is not waiting for the suit to be heard and First Post, another newspaper, published a major article yesterday under the headline, “No means no: Pachauri sexual harassment case reveals what Indian men haven’t learnt”. It said that when the woman “ticked him off, saying that such behaviour would not be entertained, he played a miffed teenager and declared that an act spurred by ‘love’ had been misunderstood by the victim as a case of sexual misdemeanour.” “Please, you are not to grab me and/or kiss me,” the complainant told Pachauri in one angry text. To which Pachauri replied, “I wish you would see the difference between something tender and something tender and loving and something crass and vulgar. So I shall slink away and withdraw.” First Post’s commentator said: “It’s a bit of a horrifying image, but you can almost picture Pachauri pouting and crying ‘not fair’.” In another email Pachauri says: “I find it now very difficult to hug you. What haunts me are your words from the last time that I ‘grabbed’ your body. That would apply to someone who would want to molest you. I loved you in the soul, mind, heart ...” The unnamed writer said that “while you might be shocked at the audacity of a man, who has been asked to back off by a woman for sexual misbehaviour, Pachauri’s defence will probably strike a chord with many in India”. “In case of any dispute, arguments of both the parties deserve equal weightage. However, it’s quite fascinating that Pachauri should insist that the woman shouldn’t find his ‘affections’, well, creepy. The interactions reveal that Pachauri persisted in his pursuit of the woman, even when she politely told him off. Most of his messages show that he was convinced that his advances were not being reciprocated because the other person was not trying to understand that his intentions were ‘pure’.’’ Pachauri even threatened to go on a fast until the girl tells him she has been convinced he “loves her”. “Just to prove to you how much I love you, I shall go on a fast after the cricket match tomorrow. I will break the fast only when you tell me that you believe I love you with sincerity and unfathomable depth.” His target responded: “I do believe you and you know it but I felt a little violated. Please you are not to grab me or kiss me.” The suit against Pachauri comes at a time when Indian women are becoming more determined in their rejection of the inherent sexism at all levels of their society. Women who have gone to the police to report rape have in turn been raped by those from whom they sought protection, and other women who have reported rape have been lynched. “It is frightening that a staggering number of men would have deep faith in a woman’s fear of social stigma and hence assume that they won’t make an ordeal like this public,” wrote First Post’s commentator. “Such audacity stems from a shrewd understanding of the limits to which women have themselves normalised sexual violence by setting an unspoken limit to what they can live with. It is true, reporting sexual violence is traumatic, defeating and tiring and it’s a choice that is very tempting to skip. “Perhaps then, it is time to bust a few myths and change a few things. And the young TERI research associate has taken a firm step in the right direction.” Pachauri’s lawyers say his computer and his phone were hacked and criminals sent the messages in an attempt to malign him. This is not dissimilar to former Labor MP Craig Thomson’s unsuccessful defence claim that an impostor had stolen his wallet, union credit cards and mobile phone to purchase sexual services in a Sydney brothel. Pachauri’s lawyers should be told how well that worked for Thomson before their client finds out just how hot things can get. Climate scientists are not unfamiliar with hacking, of course. A massive cache of hacked files from the University of East Anglia revealed that climate scientists had ­enthusiastically encouraged the manipulation of data and had attempted to intimidate critics. Dr Pachauri’s case might indicate that global warming can cause the sexual appetite to rise far more than the sea level. LEFTIST MEDIA PUSH A FILM OF FRACKING NONSENSE COMING soon to art house cinemas after a major publicity campaign in the Fairfax media in cahoots with the ABC is the docu-humbug Frackman — a piece of tripe funded by taxpayers, tax concessions and a few activists. According to the trailer, it’s the story of “the biggest con on the Australian people since the asbestos disaster”, the con is actually on those of us who pay tax. We fund or grant concessions to Screen WA, which contributed $156,000, Screen Queensland which stumped up $220,000, Screen Australia which found $200,000, and Producer Offset which found tax rebates to provide $435,000. The balance was provided by the Leftist GetUp organisation and the activist Lock The Gate group. Frackman, say those who sat through its tedious teaser, is an Aussie knock-off of the discredited Gaslands propaganda movie made by New York filmmaker Josh Fox who has admitted his movie was about making a point, not presenting true facts. Taxpayers will find they’re funding a stunt, not a film. The launch is linked to the NSW election. Greens loves a cause, and at the moment hydraulic fracturing of natural gas, or “fracking”, is all the rage around Ultimo, Marrickville, Newtown and Balmain. Lacking from the trailer and no doubt from the full film will be the fact fracking has taken place in the US and Canada without significant incident since 1947 and has taken place since the late 1960s in South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland, again without incident. It goes without saying that the producers hope to see this garbage change votes and ultimately be made compulsory viewing at all secondary schools to ensure the next generation is thoroughly brainwashed.