The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) has come out strongly against the decision of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) to reinstate actor Dileep, who was ousted from the organisation after he was named as an accused in the case involving the abduction and sexual assault of an actor. The decision was taken at a general body meeting of the organisation, held in Kochi on Sunday.
In a Facebook post on Monday, the WCC questioned the decision, asking whether the organisation did not find anything wrong in reinstating a person accused of sexual assault, even before the completion of the trial. It termed the decision “reeking of misogyny” as “an insult to the survivor.”
“Why did AMMA oust Dileep in the first place? Now, what change in the earlier situation has made you to take him back? Don't you find anything wrong in reinstating someone who is accused of sexual assault even before the trial is over? Aren't you again shaming the survivor of the assault, who is also a member of this organisation? What message does such a decision from a democratic organisation give to Kerala society? Isn't this decision a challenge to the law of the land? We condemn this decision that reeks of misogyny,” said the WCC statement.
AMMA's response
General Secretary of AMMA Edavela Babu told The Hindu that the organisation need not respond to “every Facebook post.”
“The members of WCC could have come to the AMMA general body meeting and raised their issues. Parvathy and Manju Warrier had informed me that they couldn't attend as they are out of station. We don't even know who the other members are,” he said.
Speaking about the decision-making process, he said the decision to oust Dileep was reversed as due process was not followed.
“The decision was not taken as per the organisation's laws. No one can be ousted like that without following due process. So the executive committee asked the general body to take a decision on this. The general body chose to freeze the earlier decision. Before we could present the resolution, questions were raised in the meeting on this issue. It was a unanimous decision to reinstate him,” he said.
When asked about AMMA's ouster of actor Thilakan, he said that it was for anti-organisational activities.
“Thilakan was ousted because he made statements against the organisation. Due process was followed in his case. Here, the case against Dileep is yet to be proved in court,” he said.
