KOCHI: A new controversy has been triggered over the Justice Hema Commission Report, which looked into problems faced by women actors in the Malayalam film industry, with the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) on Monday denying Minister P Rajeeve's statement that it had requested him not to make the contents of the report public.
Deedi Damodaran, a WCC member, told reporters that the Collective wanted the entire Justice Hema Commission Report to be made public, and it never asked Rajeeve not to publish the report. Rajeeve, in an interview with a newspaper, said WCC members had asked him not to publish the Hema Commission report, and only sought that he implement its recommendations when they met him in January.
The minister stuck to his comments on Monday saying those who submitted before the Commission wanted anonymity and the government would ensure that. "While the government's priority is to implement the recommendations of the Committee, the identity of those who submitted their statements before the panel cannot be disclosed," Rajeeve told reporters. He also clarified that the commission was not appointed as per the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, and hence it need not be tabled in the assembly.
The WCC said that the report can be published along with the case studies after removing the names and other details of the survivors so that the public would know what has led the Commission to make these recommendations. In a post on Twitter, the WCC expressed its disappointment in the system that is taking a long time to formulate a law to protect women as recommended by the Justice Hema Commission.
In the post, the WCC mentioned a letter it had submitted to Rajeeve on January 21 this year. "WCC has taken very seriously the Hema Committee and the report it has submitted. When we observed that despite so much money, time, and effort spent on the report there was no action, we approached various government agencies. We raised our voice and concerns regarding the silence from the side of the government," said the post which was accompanied by the letter the collective had sent to the minister.
According to the WCC, it is not enough to produce recommendations without the context of the findings. "The case studies (removing the names and other details of the survivors) which have led to these recommendations must be made known. Setting up committees and discussions on the recommendations is not enough. The public needs to know the basis on which these recommendations have been made. It is also important that we know if the Hema Committee has endorsed these recommendations," said the collective seeking transparency. The collective members said they will participate in the meeting called by the Minister of Culture Saji Cherian on May 4 with the hope and belief that change is imperative.