Welcome to the Hema Commission report, wants the recommendations to be implemented: AMMA

Kochi, Aug 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) on Friday broke its silence over the sensational report of the Justice Hema Committee on the conditions and sexual exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry. The Association welcomed the findings and called for implementation of the recommendations.

Addressing the media at the AMMA office, Siddique, the Secretary General and a popular actor, noted that they are being accused of silence and that the AMMA has not responded to the report so far.

“What happened was we were all doing a charity show and it ended early on Thursday morning. Then we had a meeting of our board members who were all in different locations. We never walked out,” he said.

“This report is not against AMMA. We wholeheartedly welcome the report and its findings. We want the recommendations to be implemented. Two years ago, the Minister of State for Films Saji Cherian called us for a meeting based on the report and we gave our suggestions,” Siddique said.

“We have never opposed the release as it is the mandate of the state government. Everyone should understand that the majority of female actors are our members and our own members will be the beneficiaries once the recommendations are implemented. The problem is that the media is putting AMMA in the dock for no reason and that has hurt us,” he added.

“I have been in the industry for 40 years and I can say with absolute conviction that there is no power group as mentioned in the report because this is a film industry and such groups cannot exist and there is no casting couch either… We have no qualms that if there is a crime somewhere, it should be investigated and we want to arrest the offenders if there are any,” Siddique said.

“Our top actors Mammootty and Mohanlal met the committee and were asked mainly about professional fees and such issues. Many of our women members were not asked to appear before the Hema committee,” he maintained.

Senior actress Joemol, who is also a board member of AMMA, said she has never had any bad experiences in the industry.

Jagdeesh, Vice Chairman of AMMA and popular comedy artiste, also an industry veteran of the last four decades, said he welcomed the report.

“Now that the findings are out, let there be an investigation and no one in the industry can take a different view. If something has gone wrong, let the law take its course. When these things happen in our industry, there has to be a correction and these things should not be happening at all,” he said.

“Now the matter is sub-judice because the High Court has asked for the unamended version and if there are violators, they should be punished… that is my view and that of the AMMA. We are waiting for their response. If there are names, let them come out and appropriate action will be taken. The delayed publication of the report could have been avoided, if it had been five years ago, it would have been really nice,” Jagdeesh added.

The AMMA’s reaction comes a day after the Kerala High Court admitted a PIL seeking registration of a criminal case based on the findings of the Hema Committee. The report contained explosive information about the way a powerful group comprising top actors and others in the Malayalam film industry operated.

On Friday, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan had written to CM Pinarayi Vijayan and also to Minister of Culture and Films Saji Cherian demanding that a special investigation team of Kerala Police, headed by a woman IAS officer, should investigate the sexual exploitation of women in the film industry. Now, all eyes are on the Supreme Court, which has asked the state government about the need to preserve the report received by the Vijayan government in 2019 without any follow-up action and sought the unamended version of the report. The matter will now be heard on September 10.

Source: IANS

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