Claiming that NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii demonstrated subservience to the government and lack of repentance for Japan¡¯s wartime use of ¡°comfort women,¡± 172 former employees of the public broadcaster submitted a petition Friday calling on its board of governors to advise him to resign or strip him of power.

¡°We decided to take this action because we wanted to stress once again that NHK is supposed to be a news organization independent of government authorities and exists to foster Japan¡¯s development of democracy,¡± it said.

The list of former employees included some prominent names, notably former news anchors and announcers.

The move follows similar campaigns launched by at least two citizens¡¯ groups in May to demand Momii¡¯s resignation.

In his inaugural news conference in January, Momii touched off a firestorm by stating that NHK should toe the government line on Japan¡¯s territorial issues with China and South Korea in its international programs. The petition, criticizing this remark as belying the broadcaster¡¯s supposed immunity from political power, said: ¡°If Momii stays at the helm any longer, that will pose a significant threat to NHK¡¯s independence.¡±

At the same conference, Momii also justified the use of ¡°comfort women,¡± Japan¡¯s euphemism for the mostly Korean women and girls coerced into sexual servitude by the Imperial Japanese Army, according to the petition. Such a comment is tantamount to a ¡°fabrication of history¡± and reflects ¡°his inability to imagine as a human being the devastating plight those women went through,¡± the petition said.

Momii was appointed by the broadcaster¡¯s 12-member board of governors, who were handpicked by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is no stranger to NHK¡¯s affairs.

One of the directors, writer Naoki Hyakuta, drew widespread ire in June when he reportedly said in a speech in Shizuoka Prefecture that the 1937 Nanking Massacre never took place.

The petition lamented these gaffes have made it harder for NHK¡¯s staff, including reporters, to do their jobs as they wrestle with the heated public backlash and viewers increasingly refuse to pay their subscription fees.

Keiichi Kubota, who stepped down as a governing board member in April, said in his resignation speech that morale at NHK has deteriorated since Momii took the helm and that their ¡°efforts to maintain pride in undertaking public broadcasting are now on the verge of collapse.¡±

¡°We hope the governing board will make a wise decision (to dismiss Momii), or the current phase of NHK will forever be remembered as an embarrassment in its history,¡± the petition said.

An NHK spokesman said the broadcaster will pass the petition to the board of directors.