"Something Wrong With Indian Men If...": Shashi Tharoor On Mollywood #MeToo

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has called for changes to the "overall attitude in Indian society", remarking also that "there must be something wrong with Indian men", if there is to be any hope in controlling, if not eradicating, the horrid issue of violent crime against women.

Mr Tharoor's strong criticism - particularly about there being "something wrong with Indian men if we can't address this problem" - comes amid a deeply worrying flood of sexual assault allegations against senior members of the Kerala film industry, also called Mollywood.

Speaking to NDTV Friday, Mr Tharoor welcomed the exposure of widespread sexual assault of women, and men, in Mollywood, as well as police cases and the resignations, but stressed the real battle for gender equality lay in correcting the "degradation" of Indian society.

"I think there are many things coming out of the closet of our society... beginning with assaults against women. This goes back forever but is now talked about since the Nirbhaya tragedy of 2012 (a young woman gangraped and murdered in Delhi) and now, the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder of 2024 (a trainee doctor was raped murdered at a Kolkata hospital this month)."

"This is a span of a dozen years in which nothing seems to have changed!"

"Every Day... Some Woman Assaulted"

"Every day when I pick up the newspaper there is some incident... some woman has been assaulted. It could be a college student, a child, or a middle-aged lady. (There must be) something wrong with Indian men if we can't address this problem..." Mr Tharoor told NDTV.

The Lok Sabha MP from Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram, Mr Tharoor also recalled a conversation with the late former Delhi Chief Minister after the Nirbhaya incident, in which had suggested "serious gender sensitivity instruction for schoolboys from a very young age".

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"I hope something like that can be implemented... because we can't go on having tragedy after tragedy. There is shock and horror and outrage (at first) but then it all subsides and we move on to the next tragedy. That doesn't work. We need systematic change," he stressed.

"Proud That Kerala Women Stood Up"

On the sexual assault charges that have roiled the Kerala film industry, Mr Tharoor said he was disappointed by the allegations but "proud" his home state is leading this #MeToo wave.

"I grew up in a household of strong women. I had two sisters and a mother who had strong views... and had independent ways of functioning in their own right," he said of his background.

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"I am proud that the first place in India that has exposed what everyone says is going on, in every other film industry, is Kerala.... at least Kerala stood and up said, 'this is not right'."

He did, however, hit out at Kerala's ruling CPIM for having "sat on it (the report on sexual assaults in Mollywood) for five years. "Inexcusable. It should have been released on the spot."

On AMMA Resignations

Nearly a dozen cases have been filed against senior actors and filmmakers, including M Mukesh, who is also an MLA for the ruling CPI(M), accusing them of rape, sexual harassment, and molestation, since the release of the Justice Hema Committee report last week.

READ | Rape Case Against MLA And Actor Mukesh In Mollywood #MeToo Wave

The flurry of complaints have led to senior Mollywood figures resigning from state government panels or bodies associated with the film industry, and several members of a powerful actors' body, called Association of Malayalam Movie Actors, quitting citing "moral responsibility".

READ | Second Case Filed Against Actor Jayasurya In Mollywood #Metoo Row

This week veteran actor Mohanlal stepped down as President of AMMA, as too did members of its executive committee. Mr Tharoor recognised their action but insisted it was not enough.

READ | Mohanlal Quits As Malayalam Film Body AMMA Chief Amid 'MeToo' Storm

"(Of the) people who have resigned, in some cases, their own names have been taken by accusers... (resigning) is not just about moral responsibility... the fact is they presided over a system that allowed this to happen," he pointed out.

"Right To Their Spaces"

The Congress leader also spoke about how assault against women, specifically at their workplaces, might be addressed, red-flagging women being denied even basic facilities, the lack of which forces them to occupy potentially unsafe spaces.

"Must (ensure) basic facilities... toilets for women and restrooms, areas where they can literally physically rest, whether in a hospital in Kolkata or on a film set are critical. Women should be recognised as having the right to their own space and being free of interference there."

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Men invading that space, he said, must be told, in no uncertain terms, that such misbehaviour will warrant very severe punishment.

Outside Help For Women In Kerala Films

Mr Tharoor also stressed the need for an independent forum for women to lodge future complaints.

"In the workplace Vishaka Committee recommendations apply, and each company has its committee on sexual harassment. But clearly, if the industry is complicit, then this isn't enough. So you need a tribunal with outside people in it..."

"One of the biggest tragedies in any workplace sexual harassment situation is that the woman feels she needs the job, or the money, or the opportunity and therefore sexual assault is the price to pay."

"For generations, in every film industry, that seems to be what many women have gone through. And this is something that really, really should not be allowed."

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