New Delhi: Press Club of India president Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty on Saturday said the journalists’ body neither organised nor endorsed the ‘Modi Chalisa’ event at its premises, calling it “a victim of a breach of trust”.Sharing a video statement on X, Pisharoty said the Press Club regularly rents out its premises and has a standard operating procedure (SOP) governing such events.“By now several of you may have noticed a photograph or a video clip featuring certain individuals reciting what they call the Modi Chalisa at the Press Club of India. At the outset, I want to reiterate clearly that that event was neither organized by the Press Club of India nor it endorsed it. A clear no,” she said.The clarification came after photographs and videos from Thursday’s event were widely circulated online, showing a cutout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi being depicted in a god-like manner as a devotional poem described as the ‘Modi Chalisa’ was recited. The Press Club had issued a clarification the same day, stating that it had not organised the event and that club authorities stopped it after the terms of the venue booking were violated.Pisharoty said the club’s rules require every event to be recommended by a member, who must also be present during the programme.“In this case, the trust placed by the club on the recommending member was breached,” she said, adding that the member was not present during the event, which was itself a violation of club rules.She said the hall had been booked for a press conference, but the organisers instead lit a live fire indoors.“Instead a live fire was lit indoors inside the hall which was a huge violation of the terms under which our venue is rented out,” Pisharoty said, adding that the secretary general has also issued show-cause notices to those concerned and initiated a review of the SOPs, she said.
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The organiser, Rajan Singh, vice-president of the Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board, told PTI that he planned to construct a temple for Modi in Bihar.“For the first time ever, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured that the transgender community gets its rights… If we want to construct a temple for him, what is wrong with it?” Singh said.He said the proposed temple for “Lord Shri Narendra Modi ji” would cost Rs 112 crore and be built on five acres of land in Bihar.Pisharoty, meanwhile, said the Press Club would continue to focus on media freedom and open discussion.“The Press Club of India has always stood for the rights and freedoms of journalists,” she said, adding that the Managing Committee was committed to “preserving and carrying forward that legacy”.
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