Hema Committee report: CPI leader Annie Raja questions need for conclave to address workplace issues in Malayalam film industry

CPI leader Annie Raja (file)
| Photo Credit: PTI

Annie Raja, a Communist Party of India (CPI) national secretariat member and general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), expressed deep scepticism about the Kerala government’s decision to hold a cinema conclave in Kochi in November. 

Ms. Raja told reporters in New Delhi on Friday (August 23, 2024) that putting victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse as documented by the Justice K. Hema’s Committee report on the same platform did not appear optimal and ran against the grain of natural justice.

The CPI veteran’s stance appeared to be openly at variance with that of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. Ms. Annie said she would not justify the delay in releasing and acting on the report.

However, the matter was under the Kerala High Court’s consideration, and she refused to hazard a guess on whether the evidence and statements adduced by those who testified before the committee justified suo motu registration of cases. 

Ms. Annie seemed to put the ball firmly in the government’s court. She said the committee had spotlighted the glaring workplace inadequacies women artistes and technicians face in Malayalam cinema and serial production sets. “Women desist from drinking water due to the lack of safe bathrooms. They were fearful to use the outdoors given the lack of privacy and security”, Ms Raja said. 

“It is the government’s responsibility to ensure workplace equality for women in the entertainment industry. The remit goes beyond the mere registration of cases”, Ms. Raja added. 

Common ground with UDF and WCC

The CPI appeared to have found common ground with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition and the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an advocacy group that espouses equality of the sexes and fights for women’s rights in the entertainment industry.

The Opposition and the WCC had found themselves on the same page by questioning the rationale behind the government’s decision to hold a three-day conclave when so many gender issues and the protection and privacy of those who testified before the Hema Committee were at stake. 

Mr. Satheesan had said the UDF would oppose the conclave. He termed it a cosmetic exercise to gloss over the government’s criminal failure to act on the report for five years under the pretext that the administration lacked a specific complaint. He said the conclave would not whitewash the government’s bid to protect the rich and the powerful who sat at the film industry’s apex.