Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi | The Congress-led opposition UDF on Friday continued to attack the Left government in Kerala, accusing it of shielding those responsible for the instances of sexual exploitation, drug abuse and criminalisation of the film industry uncovered in the Justice Hema Committee report.
Demanding a probe by a special team led by a female IPS officer into the instances revealed in the report, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan also accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of lying by saying that Justice Hema did not want the findings to be revealed.
Satheesan claimed that Justice Hema only said that the report be made public in accordance with the Supreme Court's directive that the information of victims of sexual exploitation should not be revealed.
"The CM misinterpreted it and lied," he alleged while speaking at a protest programme organised by the Mahila Congress in Kochi.
The allegation was refuted by CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan who said that the government's Culture Department had the letter written by Justice Hema.
Govindan, at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, reiterated what the CM had said a few days ago regarding the release of the report and the steps taken by the government based on it.
He also said that now the matter was before the Kerala High Court, and further steps would be taken in accordance with the court's directions.
Satheesan, while speaking in Kochi, accused the state government, the CM and the Culture Ministers in the previous and current Left administration of covering up the findings in the report for more than four years.
He contended that the government was obligated to file a case and investigate when a crime had been committed.
He alleged that by not taking any action, the government was trying to protect the privacy of the culprits and not the victims.
The opposition leader claimed that former state Culture Minister A K Balan said that nothing was done based on the report as it was received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"So, does it mean that the government will not prosecute whatever crimes are committed during COVID?" he asked.
Satheesan said that a lack of action on the part of the government will humiliate innocent persons in the industry, as the public will judge everyone on the same scale.
Satheesan said the opposition was taking a pro-women stance and not a political one.
He said that the opposition will not allow the government to hold a conclave in Kochi without first punishing the culprits and ensuring justice for the victims.
The state government is planning to hold a conclave to discuss the issues faced by women in the film industry.
Satheesan, earlier in the day, wrote a letter to Vijayan and present state Culture Minister Saji Cherian, urging that a special team be formed, led by a female IPS officer, to carry out an investigation based on the statements and evidence given by the victims of sexual harassment, exploitation, ill-treatment and other human right abuses to the committee.
However, Balan has maintained that courts have held that an FIR cannot be lodged based on the findings of a commission.
"This was the Supreme Court's finding in the Oommen Chandy case. Therefore, the state government cannot suo motu (on its own) lodge an FIR based on the commission report," Balan said.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said that based on a complaint before it and the committee report released by the media, there appear to be widespread violations of human rights in the Malayalam film industry that need to be examined.
KHRC Judicial Member K Byjunath asked the chief secretary and the state police chief to examine the committee report and the complaint before the commission in detail and submit a response within two weeks about the steps the government intends to take in the matter.
The commission's direction came from a complaint by a Kannur-based lawyer seeking action against those responsible for the human rights violations mentioned in the Hema Committee report.
In his letter, Satheesan reiterated that despite the Hema Committee's report of 2019 revealing that serious sexual crimes have been committed, including those under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the government shelved the findings and did not conduct an investigation.
This is a challenge to the legal system of the country, he said.
Satheesan also reminded Chief Minister Vijayan that concealment or non-reporting of offences under the POCSO Act is also a crime.
On Tuesday at a press conference, Vijayan had said that the committee never recommended that the matters discussed in the report should be investigated by registering cases. He said that if any of the women who gave statements to the committee come forward to lodge a complaint, there will be appropriate intervention from the government.
The Hema Committee report, a redacted version of which was made public earlier this week, has recorded explosive accounts of harassment, exploitation and ill-treatment of female professionals in the film industry and alleged that a "criminal gang" is controlling the industry where unyielding women are squeezed out.
