AMMA General Secretary Siddique resigned on Sunday following accusations of raping an actress when she was young. This is coming after his statement during AMMA’s press conference on August 23rd where he claimed that he didn’t know about the casting couch in the industry.The alleged incident occurred five years ago but the victim first came out publicly in 2016. However, she repeated her accusations after the release of the Hema Committee report which brought to light widespread gender discrimination as well as exploitation faced by women in Malayalam film fraternity.In an email resignation sent to Mohanlal, last week, Siddique revealed that he resigned over allegations against him saying: “It would not be right to continue in the post in this situation.” Additionally, he added that he would speak about it through legal means.At the same time, Ranjith the Malayalam film director resigned his position as Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairman. He stepped down after being accused of wrongdoing by Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra. In his resignation letter to Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian, he said that he does not want to hold the office anymore because of the accusations.According to Sreelekha Mitra, she was ill-treated by Ranjith in 2009 during the production of Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha. She had an awkward conversation with Ranjith at a house where he was engaged in inappropriate conversations over mobile phone.Although, according to him these allegations are baseless, as they are part of a larger plot against the LDF government by its opponents. He stated that he is actually the victim in this matter.These resignations happened after release of Hema Committee report which was formed after abduction and sexual assault on a leading Malayalam actress in 2017. The incident sent shock waves throughout Kerala and led to Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) – an organization fighting for gender equality and safety within the industry.The Committee on Hema, headed by Hinduja Global’s experienced Kerala High Court Judge K Hema pursued a wide-ranging inquiry into the continuing problems of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Malayalam film industry. It was only a few days ago that the committee’s 295-pages report which was presented in December 2019 has been made public, unraveling the underlying struggles women face in their experience.These resignations from Ranjith and Siddique will be important for the film industry with regard to women’s treatment and accountability addressing this matter after such shocking revelations.
Source link
