Kochi: The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) has come out against Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) even as it welcomed keeping rape accused Dileep out.
In a Facebook post, the WCC said that it's recording its "deepest disappointment" over the "previous inability" of the executive committee (EC) of AMMA to take action according to its bylaw that led to the revoking of his suspension.
The WCC said the EC should have acted in such a manner to set a good precedence for guidance in action such cases in future. “AMMA is also ignoring the fact that the partial act of the executive committee had led to the resignation of our compatriot assault survivor and three others,” the WCC said.
The WCC post also said it was unfortunate that contradictory statements, infighting and attitudes of depicting women as showpieces are coming on the part of AMMA at a time when the nation is strongly backing #MeToo movement.
“We strongly register our protest against all attempts to belittle or ignore the different acts of sexual violence and exploitation in the Malayalam film world,” it said.
It also said that the attitude of AMMA towards people who speak out on atrocities within the organisation was evident from the statement of its member Sree Devika.
“It is deeply distressing to note that there is a huge contradiction between the claims of the organisation and the stand taken,” the WCC said.
“We underscore that this is not an issue concerning an organisation but is related to the whole Malayalam film world. Each person working in this sector should be aware of the rights and responsibilities in relation to the unions and other organisations in which they are members. The collectives and unions are aimed at not limiting organisations to a few people but make them work for the welfare of the entire members.”
The collective expressed solidarity with Divya Gopinath, Sree Devika, Archana Padmini and Sruthi Hariharan who spoke openly on the atrocities they faced.
It also announced a blog wcc.home.blog as a forum for those who support WCC to raise their opinions and stand.
