Hema Committee report: Congress, BJP slam Left govt's 'flawed attitude' towards women

Kochi, Sep 10 (IANS) Hours after the Kerala High Court's special division bench on Tuesday pulled up the Pinarayi Vijayan government for its attitude towards women in the wake of the Justice Hema Committee report recommendations, the Congress and the BJP also slammed it for sitting silent on the report and not taking any action.

The special bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and C.S. Sudha, set up by Acting Chief Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque last week to hear matters related to the Hema Committee report, was unsparing of the government in its first-ever sitting. "Why was the state government inactive till now even though it got the report in 2019?" Justice Nambiar asked.

Reacting to the court's criticisms, Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan said all that they have been saying right from August 19 has now been said by the High Court.

"The report that was idling with the Vijayan government clearly mentions how women and minors were exploited and this government did nothing and this is a criminal act. Moreover, the SIT formed is only probing the revelations made by people after the report came out, when what they should have actually done was to have probed the findings in the Hema Committee and that was what we said and was reiterated by the High Court too. This clearly shows the flawed attitude of the Vijayan government," the Congress leader said.

State BJP President K.Surendran said the Vijayan government should apologise to the women in Kerala for its inaction on the Hema Committee report.

"The High Court statement is a slap on the face of Vijayan. No previous Kerala government would have ever taken such a negative approach to the women in our state by siding with the accused. Right from the time the report was published, the Vijayan government was playing hide and seek and now everyone has understood the attitude of the Vijayan government towards women," he said.

The Justice K Hema Committee was set up by the Kerala government in 2017 and the report was submitted to the state government in 2019 but it was after a long-drawn legal battle the report was finally released on August 19, leading to numerous former actresses opening up with allegations of sexual harassment by several prominent industry figures. Based on the complaints, the Kerala Police have so far registered FIRs against 11 people, including 10 from the film industry. Those who are in the dock include actor-turned-CPI-M legislator Mukesh Madhavan, Nivin Pauly, Siddique, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, Maniyanpilla Raju, directors Ranjith and Prakash, and production executives Vichu and Noble. Mukesh, Ranjith, and Raju have, by now, secured relief from the court.

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