Misogyny in media exposed

BRP Bhaskar

Gulf Today

A #MeToo wave sweeping across India is knocking down the reputation of some well-known figures of news and entertainment media.

The best known public figure among those exposed by survivors so far is Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar. Ten women journalists, including two foreigners, have made accusations against him, all dating back to his days as newspaper editor.

Akbar was abroad on an official tour when the allegations surfaced. On his return he denied the allegations and threatened legal action against his accusers.

Several Bollywood celebrities also attracted charges. Tanushree Dutta, an actor and model, accused Nana Patekar, a veteran of Hindi and Marathi films and winner of many awards, of sexually harassing her on the sets of a film 10 years ago. She said the film’s director, producer and choreographer were complicit in her harassment.

Patekar denied the charge and sent her a legal notice demanding an apology. She responded by filing a police complaint against him and the director, producer and choreographer. The matter is now under investigation.

While Dutta’s allegation against Patekar relates to conduct on the sets of a film, the charges against some others include attempts to lure young co-workers to locations away from the workplace.

Actor Salomi Chopra, who had once worked as assistant to film maker Sajid Khan, accused him of personal abuse. Following this, several stars working with him on a new film dropped out. Among them was Patekar.

Sajid Khan stepped down as director, assuming moral responsibility, but asked friends to not pass judgment until the truth was out.

Subhash Ghai, maker of many box-office hits, and Alok Nath, lead actor of popular television serials, were among the others at whom women colleagues pointed fingers.

Ghai said he was a #MeToo supporter but some were diluting the campaign for fame. Alok Nath’s wife filed a defamation case against the script writer who had levelled charges against him and demanded a compensation of Rs 10 million.

On Sunday 11 women film makers, including Nandita Das, Konkona Sen Sharma and Zoya Akhtar expressed solidarity with the survivors and vowed not to work with sex offenders.

The first to name Akbar was a journalist who had started her career under him in the 1990s. Her disclosure prompted others to come out with their own #MeToo accounts.

Akbar, who began his journalistic career with the Times of India group in 1971 at the age of 20, had made a mark quickly as a feature writer. He was one of the young editors who blazed a new trail as the press, suppressed during the 1975-77 Emergency, regained freedom. He helmed The Telegraph which within a few years of its launch in 1982 ended The Statesman’s century-old primacy in Kolkata.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi drew him into politics, and he became a Congress member of Parliament. Returning to journalism later, he launched the Asian Age, associated himself with a Hyderabad-based newspaper chain and helped the International Herald Tribune to print in India circumventing government regulations. Taking to politics again, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party before the 2014 elections.

Akbar appears to be digging in, relying excessively on one accuser’s statement that he “didn’t do anything”. However, her account and those of the other accusers contain much that falls within the ambit of the legal definition of sex offences.

His best protection is his political affiliation. Parties go to great lengths to shield their members. In Kerala state, two legislators belonging to the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), one of them an actor, have attracted sexual harassment charges, but the police is not in the picture.

The #MeToo campaign has already extracted a price from some media persons. The Times of India sent its Hyderabad resident editor KR Sreenivas on forced leave. Business Standard principal correspondent Mayank Jain resigned following allegations by colleagues.

A common feature of the allegations is that the accusers were very young and highly vulnerable when they came under attack from men in powerful positions who would not take no for an answer.

There are signs of the #MeToo campaign spreading to other areas too. A columnist has called out popular novelist Chetan Bhagat and celebrity consultant Suhel Seth. Lawyers and human rights defenders have asked survivors in their spheres of activity to speak out.

There is enough material in the public realm to conclude that misogyny is still widespread and the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in 1997 and the steps taken by the government subsequently are not adequate to address the issue of sexual offences effectively. -- Gulf Today, October 16, 2018