JP Nadda questions delay in publication of report amid #MeToo row in Kerala

New Delhi:

The BJP today weighed in on the huge controversy over the Hema Commission report on sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, with party leader JP Nadda suggesting that the Left government in Kerala is complicit in it. Speaking at an internal meeting of the party in Palakkad in Kerala, Mr Nadda questioned the delay in the release of the Hema Commission report.

“Why is there a delay in giving justice on the Hema Commission report? What is stopping them (the Kerala government)? What is stopping you? Because you are part of it,” he said.

“It is something you want to hide because your people are involved in it… I am very sorry to say that the Hema Commission report very specifically said that leaders of the Communist Party are involved in it. The Chief Minister should come out and tell what really happened,” Mr. Nadda was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Earlier, Minister Suresh Gopi had said that the controversy was a media creation. Media, he said, “distorts public perception”.
The Malayalam film industry is facing a major crisis after the Justice Hema Committee’s report on harassment of women in the industry was made public earlier this month.

It includes reports of harassment, exploitation and abuse of female professionals. It was followed by a flood of accusations from several female artists and other employees.

The government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. “The SIT has been strengthened by adding additional women officers. All related cases registered with local police stations are being handed over to the SIT for further investigation,” the Kerala Police said in a statement.