#MeToo: M J Akbar And His Ilk

For too long women have been taking it; being subjected to the worst forms of sexual harassment and predatory behaviour and being silent. So, were they complicit? Not at all, if you had fought at home to ‘be allowed to work ‘ or worse, simply had to work because you needed to – well, it’s a man’s world and the patriarchal systems are so deeply entrenched that the stacks were weighed against your lone voice, you could be: slandered, lose your job, ostracised and unable to survive. So, many women just remained silent. But sometimes there is a moment in history when the tipping point comes in a flash; was it the #MeToo movement in the West, the allegations against Hollywood predator-producer Harvey Weinstein or Raya Sarkar’s list of Indian academics or that women had access to technology that allowed them to speak out in a private network group that then spiralled out; the watershed moment has arrived.

The list is long, but some salient stinkers at the time of writing -- eight women have accused the Minister of State for External Affairs, M.J Akbar, of serious sexual harassment at work when he was the Editor of various publications. Just reading the accounts makes one wince with rage and anguish. Writer and film director Vinta Nanda has accused actor Alok Nath of rape, and actor Tanushree Dutta has reiterated her charges of indecent behaviour against co-actor Nana Patekar. Dutta has stated that her earlier harassment charges were not even framed by the police. This only goes to prove how insensitive the police and the entire system is to women. Yes, no one is guilty until proven so, but your lordship, the due process is simply not working. No one wants to hang around courts for 20 years, with defending lawyers making the most rapacious charges and lewd remarks. Bhanwari Devi who was gang-raped by the dominant caste men 25 years ago for reporting a child marriage – she was just doing her job –   lost her case in the lower courts. The accused went free and she is still awaiting justice. So what’s next, anarchy?

There are some milestones; women are here to stay in the workplace, they are going to expand and assert themselves and are not going to retreat. Some modalities have to be worked out. Socialising is not dating and work is often at informal spaces – journalists do travel and meet people in hotel rooms. What is the decorum to be observed? For instance, what should be said to a top police officer who told me at a meeting that “there was a rape charge against my boys, but the girl was of a loose character. So I defended them, as boys will be boys.”  This is the mind-set – ‘boys will be boys’ and the girl is to blame if anything happens.

The Minister of Women & Child Development, Maneka Gandhi’s decision to have a public hearing by retired judges is a good one, but we will have to have many nuanced discussions as to what constitutes a decent, safe environment and what is to be done when someone transgresses. Internal committees are essential but this time I ask men to stand by us and take a proactive interest, for this is the land from which Gandhi got purdah-bound women out of their homes into the freedom struggle and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose set up an all -women’s regiment – the Rani of Jhansi Regiment – and marched through the forests of Burma; all for freedom. Are we going to stand by and watch a bunch of powerful predators whittle it away? I think not.

It is curtains for M.J Akbar and his ilk.

(The writer is an award-winning author & film-director)