Abuse, resignations, power nexus: Everything about Kerala’s #MeToo crisis

Over The Last 5 Years Malayalam Cinema has actually gained immense popularity everyone I know has sat up and taken note of the good quality films the excellent acting the craft of film making and the progressive themes but what most people outside of Kerala don't know is that there is a very dark side to the Malayalam industry as we speak Kerala is actually going through a big moment of crisis women actors are coming out and naming their abusers powerful men from within the industry are being forced to resign from their positions of power and the state government is being held accountable all of this has been triggered by one document called the hmer committee report so what is this report the hmer committee report is a 290 page document released by The Kaa government it documents the rampant sexual harassment the abysmal working conditions inefficiency of redressal mechanisms and possible solutions for women in the Malayalam film industry the report was redacted to protect the privacy of Survivors by removing any identifiers and names of perpetrators but it acknowledges how women have not only suffered trauma but have also been scared of speaking up if they did the consequences included fearing for their life getting banned from the industry and being subjected to further harassment but before I go into the Pandora's Box that that has been opened up with the release of this report let's take a look at what led to the initiation of this HMA committee itself it all started 7 years ago on February 17th 2017 a top female actor was abducted and sexually assaulted by a group of six criminals the investigation revealed that the men might have been hired by a malum Superstar actor named dilip phip is now accused of orchestrating and conspiring to sexually abuse the fale female actor last month we published an 11 chapter story on the night of the crime and the Ripple effects it caused across the state for the years to come you can read this story on the news minute or the news laundry website when the news of this crime exploded in Kerala other women actors came together in solidarity with the Survivor however the women soon realized that this was actually not a one-off incident here's what actor Padma Pria told me a few months ago when you start building a support system for one Survivor you realize that we're all survivors in one way or another this one crime caused many women to come out and detail their stories of trauma # aalam meaning with her began trending on social media we must remember that this Weinstein scale revolution in Kerala began months before the global Meo movement but what were the men saying about the movement many men resisted the feminist Revolution and quite a few of them actually came out and called the whole campaign one big hysterical performance here's with Mohan Lal one of kerala's most revered actors and president of the association of the Malayala movie artists Association which has about 500 artists in it said about the MEO movement me too like you said is a you just called it a it's in Trend to be me to why would you say that the whole world is waking up to it there are women who are seriously suffering as well so we can also come out with me too with gender gender wise we should also start me too okay don't don't write on me in May 2017 just months after the crime a group of 14 women from the Malayalam film industry met Pinay Vian the chief minister of Kerala they submitted a memorandum of Demands for safe work spaces better wages and redressal cells the women had had enough that's when they formed the women in cinema Collective that is the WCC a first most of its kind Association in India months after it was formed here's what the WCC said in 2018 about the industry you all Must Be Wondering Why We have called this I think there was a lot of speculation about me too uh that there is going to be some exposure uh we are not here to uh shame the industry though we know there are lots and lots and lots of stories in these closets and they will come come out if things go like this we are really sure because we as an organization have really um heard stories that are really shocking and will come out because it's like a pressure cooker the more you press it down the more it is going to break so this is not a threat to anybody but this is to State a fact that there is something very very wrong in this industry in response to all of this outrage the Kerala government formed the HMA committee under the chairman ship of the retired judge named justice K hmer the intention was to listen document and suggest reforms for Women Within the industry for the women of Kerala this was a significant moment they had a voice they were being heard their pain was being considered news and the state government was promising to address their concerns through the HMA committee woman after woman sat in front of the three bench panel and Revisited their trauma at the end of 2019 a 5,000 page report which reflected on the experiences of nearly 40 women was submitted to the Chief Minister the leaps case had triggered one of the most subversive feminist movements in India and the dream that women across the globe were seeing was potentially going to turn into a reality in the state of Kerala it seemed like the state would now live to witness the grand fall of abusive powerful men except as soon as the report was submitted it was duly buried despite activ ists and journalists demanding for the report to be tabled in the Kerala assembly chief minister pinai viin refused to do so the state government cited the privacy of women and that the findings of the report were too huge to be tabled as reasons for not releasing it finally in May 2022 the government released a 1 and a half page document that summarizes the recommendations of the committee but it was such a wag document that it essentially said nothing the Kera left front government's decision to drag its feet on the report raised the question of who were these men who were being protected and why finally this year on August 19th that is 5 years after it was compiled a redacted version of the HMA committee report was released despite not revealing the names of any perpetrators the report is a Monumental document which records how young women were expected to offer themselves up for sex on demand how a group of powerful men called the mafia controls the entire industry and how women feared for their life if they spoke up about their own trauma there are references in the report which potentially suggest that even minor girls may have been targeted the report refers to the industry as a boys club where women are entirely suppressed we have done a detailed story looking at the extent of the abuse recorded by the hmer committee you can read it on news laundry and news minute the WCC the women in cinema Collective welcomed the HMA committee report's release so did the associate ation of Malala movie artists which has over 500 members from the industry in fact actor sidik who is the General Secretary of the association said that until the HMA report the association led by some of the most powerful men in the industry was not aware of the situation faced by women he also said that police action must be taken against all those Accused by the committee ironically within hours of his statement actor RTI samat pointed out that she had accused sidik himself of sexually assaulting her years ago in 2019 no action was taken at that time neither by the Association nor by the police with the hmer committee report now hanging over their heads public pressure quickly mounted and sidik resigned from the association he then filed a case against RTI samat and called the accusations a part of a larger conspiracy in the meantime director Ranjit was accused of misbehaving with a Bengali actor sria Mitra during the audition of a 2009 Malayalam film he too resigned as the chairman of the Kerala chalachitra Academy but also denied the allegations and claimed they were politically motivated the release of the HMA committee report has led to an explosion of me to stories in the Malayalam mainstream media the Kerala High Court meanwhile ordered the state government to submit the entire committee Report with the names and the evidence in a sealed cover chief minister pinai Vision has said that the government will take strong action against the misogyny and the illegal practices in the Malayalam film industry the Kerala government also announced that they are setting up a special investigation team including senior police officers to initiate preliminary investigations into the allegations sexual harassment in the cinema world is not a new story during the me movement several prominent artists from various different industries were named as perpetrators there have been many attempts to start women's collect in other Industries as well none have been as successful as the women in cinema collective in Kerala let's actually listen to what Parvati t a senior actor and founding member of the women in cinema Collective said after the report came out what I believe is that when this happens in Malayalam industry I am not okay with it it going like you know oh Malayalam industry is so rotten inside no we are good inside which is why we are fixing it the places where you don't hear anything about that's what we should be worried about after this video was recorded there was an update on August 27th about 2 weeks after the HMA committee report was released the association of Malayala movie artists were forced to respond its president mohanlal along with 17 other executive committee members tendered their mass resignations in a statement the Amma said in the context of the sexual harassment accusations leveled against some of the officials of the administrative commit Committee of Amma in the media and after the release of the HMA committee report the existing administrative Committee of Amma has decided to resign accepting moral responsibility a meeting of the general body will be held within 2 months and the new administrative committee will be elected the news minute and news laundry have been extensively reporting and following up on the story this is a story that is yet to get the national attention that it deserves such reports take a large team and a lot of resources do subscribe to the news minute and news laundry and pay to keep News free you can fund journalism that solely works for you that is our motto at news laundry you can pay to keep News free so that news becomes accountable to you just like it's supposed to be visit news laundry.com and become a paying subscriber so that you can pay to keep News free and independent