Abhijit Mukherjee's take on the anti-rape protestors to ABP News. Watch

Mukherjee attempts to clarify to CNN IBN. He says he was misquoted. "I was talking about students only. The person I was talking about was at least 35 years old, she was not a student. Whom I saw, giving an interview on TV, my comment is based on that. I was asked about whether it was a student movement. She was not a student. She was not young. But if I have hurt anyone, I apologise." (Quoted verbatim)

He insists his comment was only that it was not a student movement. "Professionals dress a certain way, students dress a certain way. They were not students. A student does not go for make-up," he says for good measure.

"Go to the Calcutta university campus or the Delhi university campus or Jadavpur campus (in Kolkata) and you will know what I mean. I have certain ideas, I have seen how students look," he says.  "Why you dragging from one question to another. No more. no more," he tells CNN IBN's Sagorika Ghosh.