By Neeta Lal
India’s own #MeToo movement was unleashed this month, with scores of women in credible public positions calling out rape, sexual abuse, and harassment at the workplace at the hands of star editors, filmmakers, corporate honchos, bankers, and prominent people in other sectors.
The torrent of allegations against Indian men gained momentum as more and more women across the country felt emboldened to post accounts of their mortification in detail on social media or write about it in publications.
The outpourings shook a nation that has built a culture of silence around such abuse, breezily dismissing or excusing such behavior on men’s part because “boys, after all, will be boys.” In most cases, the naming and shaming of the accuser by the women was accompanied with complaints of not receiving any redress from the concerned authorities.
The opening salvo was fired by Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta, who rekindled a decade-old allegation against actor Nana Patekar in television interviews. This uncorked a storm on social media, polarizing public opinion on the issue. While many challenged and rubbished the now retired actor’s account of the incident as an attempt to gain publicity, some Bollywood actors came out in her support.
Soon after Dutta, female director Vinta Nanda accused an unknown actor of rape on her Facebook page. “I can remember more liquor being poured into my mouth and I remember being violated endlessly… I hadn’t just been raped, I was taken to my own house and had been brutalized,” she wrote. Within hours, the accused was identified on social media as Alok Nath, a small-time actor who first brazenly denied any wrongdoing and then went on to sue Nanda for defamation.
The accusations kept snowballing. Up next was journalist Ghazala Wahab, who shared her ordeal on the Wire, a news website. She narrated how Mobashar Jawed Akbar, erstwhile editor of the newspaper she worked for (The Asian Age) and now a minister of state for external affairs in the current NDA government, molested her.
“Sometimes, he would walk over to the door and put his hand over mine; sometimes he would rub his body against mine; sometimes he would push his tongue against my pursed lips; and every time I would push him away and escape from his room,” her article stated.
The barrage of outpourings highlighted a disquieting picture. Not only were most of the allegations shocking but they also underscored a deafening official silence on what were, in many instances, open secrets. Parallels were also drawn between India’s #MeToo movement and that of the United States, which began last year when at least a dozen women came out in quick succession to corroborate allegations of sexual assault against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, highlighting a pattern of abuse and a culture of silence around it.
As the #MeToo accusations spread like wildfire to other industries, a string of men in authority came under investigation by their employers or went on to apologize for their infractions. Some even relinquished their high posts.
Prashant Jha, the political editor of Hindustan Times, a leading Indian newspaper, stepped down after allegations that he had sent inappropriate messages on WhatsApp. The former executive editor at The Times of India and former editor-in-chief of DNA, Gautam Adhikari, withdrew from his post as senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C. following three allegations of sexual harassment against him. He also mentioned he will be discontinuing his column at the Times.
With a growing public outcry against powerful and abusive men, some companies have instituted new measures to make women feel safe in their workplaces. Organizations like the Cine And TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) are investigating complaints and Producers Guild is setting up a special committee to help #MeToo survivors.
“Whether such measures have far-reaching implications for workplaces and gender-sensitivity or not remains to be seen. But at least the status quo is being challenged. It will definitely be a deterrent for exploitative men,” says a CINTAA member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to this correspondent.
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