Justice Hema Committee report: Kerala govt ought to be ashamed, says Tharoor

Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday, 20 August came down heavily against the Kerala government for not acting on the Justice Hema Committee report, which according to him was a "smoking gun" that everyone ignored.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP, addressing the media after participating in the Birth Day commemoration of Rajiv Gandhi at the District Congress Committee office, said that it is utterly shameful and shocking that the government sat on this report for nearly five years and now released it under duress.

"I saw a statement by the minister for cultural affairs, stating that these ladies could have come to the government and made a complaint, and they have only given a complaint to the commission. But the commission is appointed by the government. So, what kind of excuse is this?" Tharoor asked.

He said it was absolutely indispensable that action be taken on the basis of the report. "The state government, frankly, ought to be ashamed of itself," Tharoor said.

He said it is unforgivable to see the image of the Kerala film industry, which has a worldwide reputation, being tarnished this way after creating an unsafe working environment for women and perpetuating it through acts of intimidation, blackmail, and worse.

He wondered how a state that was the first in the world to educate girls at the primary level about 200 years ago, allowed this to happen.

"And worse is how those who are in authority in the state refused to do anything about a report that is a smoking gun sitting on their desk, and they are just pretending not to see the smoke," Tharoor said.

He said this report needs to be fully aired, discussed, and acted upon.

"And it doesn't matter which influential heads are going to roll or which people are going to have their reputations affected by this. Because it takes a lot for a woman to come and give a complaint."

He said the women who had come forward to complain have taken their reputation and their own careers into their own hands to ensure that another generation of women should not undergo what they have endured.

Tharoor said specific individual cases should be proceeded against.

This will tell people that there is no immunity for those who have harassed, blackmailed, intimidated, and humiliated respected cinema artists who just wanted to pursue their career in cinema and do their job.

He said he is not mentioning individuals, but the system and the government are in a very good position to act on the recommendations and conclusions in the Hema Committee Report.

"There is a system, and that system has let the women of Kerala down. That system has betrayed the values of the industry that they seem to promote in their art and in their cinema," Tharoor said.