Hema Committee: Vijayan govt censures more than CIC had asked

Thiruvananthapuram : A day after the Kerala High Court admitted a PIL for registering a criminal case on the findings of the Hema Committee on the condition and sexual exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry, sources have said that the state government had censored more paragraphs than what the Chief Information Commissioner had directed.

The report contained explosive information on the way a powerful group of top actors and others in the Malayalam film industry has been working.

Sources said that before publishing the report, the Chief Information Commissioner had directed deleting and blanking around 21 paragraphs, and on August 19 following a long-drawn legal battle it was released.

On Friday, it came to light that the Department of Culture, which handed over the report to a group of journalists seeking it under the Right to Information Act, has deleted around 129 paragraphs.

Award-winning actor and director Joy Mathew said if this was true then it was not fair, and opined that things cannot be kept under wraps for long as the truth will come out one day.

Actress Mala Parvathy said this is a grave incident of further censoring and the authorities need to explain.

Former Home Minister and veteran Congress legislator Ramesh Chennithala said the Vijayan government was playing foul and gives enough indication that they are trying to hide something and are allowing space for those who have done wrong to wriggle out.

Public activist Harish Vasudevan pointed out that it was on July 18 that the decision to publish the report came and after it took a legal turn, the report was finally released on August 19. With the reports coming that paragraphs and pages have been cut out, clearly shows that someone has tampered with the report and all wish to know who did it and why it was done.

Meanwhile, the six journalists who had applied for a copy of the report are also up in arms as when they were handed over the report this information was not given to them about the fresh deletion. The journalists are likely to file a complaint on this with the CIC.

On Friday, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan wrote to CM Vijayan and also to the state Minister of Culture and Films Saji Cherian that a special investigation team from the Kerala Police led by a female IAS officer should probe the sexual exploitation of women in the film industry.

The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) and the FEFKA (the body of numerous organisations from light boys to directors), are known for taking a position on various issues but are yet to react on the Hema Committee.

Cherian on Friday, however, wriggled out of the fresh developments and said now that the matter is sub-judice, he has nothing more to say.

The pressure was also mounting, especially on AMMA whose president is superstar Mohanlal, who has gone incommunicado after he was first hospitalised for fever and later discharged and took part in a charity show of AMMA.

On Friday, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission based on a complaint asked the Chief Secretary and the state police chief to come out with a report in two weeks on what action has been taken on the findings of the Hema Committee report.

All eyes are on the High Court which asked the state government on the need to keep the report received by the Vijayan government in 2019 without any follow-up action.

After accepting the PIL in their file, the Court directed the government to file a detailed affidavit on their views, to hand over the full report of the Hema Committee in a sealed cover and to implead the Kerala State Women’s Commission.

The case will now be heard on September 10.