NCW asks for unedited version of Hema Committee report

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 30 (IANS) Already in a tight spot after the Congress and the BJP parties upped the ante against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led CPI-M government for keeping the explosive Hema Committee report under wraps for nearly 5 years, the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday asked Kerala chief secretary to send the unedited version of it within a week. 

Following the release of the report last week, the Malayalam film industry is in turmoil after victims of the male hegemony came out in the open. As of now, FIRs have been registered against nine film personalities which include actor-turned-two-time sitting CPI-M legislator Mukesh Madhavan, Siddique, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, Maniyanpilla Raju, directors Ranjith, V.K. Prakash, production executives Vichu and Noble.

It was based on a complaint registered with the NCW by a BJP leader -- Sandeep Vachaspati -- that the women's rights body has asked for the report.

The Committee was appointed in 2017 and the report was submitted in 2019 after the government spent Rs 1.50 crore. But what has irked all, is the report was kept under wraps by the Vijayan government for a long.

After a long-drawn legal battle, the report was finally published.

The Vijayan government again appeared to have played truant as the Chief Information Commissioner had asked to censor 21 paragraphs when it was released. But it was later found that 129 paragraphs were deleted to shield ‘some’ people whom the Vijayan government wished to protect.

The 289-page Hema Committee report begins with a macro picture of what the Malayalam film industry is and states, “The sky is full of mysteries; with the twinkling stars and the beautiful moon. But, scientific investigation revealed that stars do not twinkle nor does the moon look beautiful. The study, therefore, cautions: Do not trust what you see, even salt looks like sugar,” reads the opening page of the report.

“The major issue which women face in the film industry is sexual harassment. It is the worst evil which women in cinema face in the film industry. Most of the women in cinema, who are known to be very bold, are reluctant and hesitant to divulge their bad experiences in cinema, particularly of sexual harassment. They are scared to disclose it even to their colleagues in the cinema, fearing consequences which they may have to face. They are afraid that if they divulge their issues to others, they will be banned from cinema and subjected to other harassment since such persons are powerful in cinema and all men in cinema will stand together by them. By using fans and fan clubs, there would be severe online harassment against them on social media. They would also face threats to life, not only to themselves but, even to their close family members; it is stated by various witnesses. They are thus, silenced in cinema,” added the Hema report.

--IANS

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