'Tainted' actor-CPI-M legislator Mukesh dropped from state govt cinema policy panel

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 5 (IANS) Actor and two-time CPI-M legislator Mukesh, who faces allegations of sexual exploitation of an actress, was on Thursday dropped from the Kerala government committee constituted to draw up a cinema policy.

Incidentally, the decision to organise a Cinema Conclave in October where more than 300 film personalities from various segments of the industry would be present to deliberate on the policy was decided by the Pinarayi Vijayan government soon after the Justice Hema Committee report on the working conditions of the women in the Malayalam film industry was released on August 19.

The policy is being drafted by a panel, chaired by eminent film personality Shaji N. Karun and comprising nine others including Mukesh, and was to be discussed and finalised at the conclave.

Soon after the Hema panel report was released, a former actress came out to allege that Mukesh had sexually exploited her and spurred calls for his resignation as a legislator, besides booting him out from the film policy committee.

Mukesh, who had in the 2021 Assembly elections, retained his Kollam assembly seat and both the Congress and the BJP demanded that he resign. The CPI-M stayed silent on the issue and the top brass of the party, after a meeting, said Mukesh need not quit. The CPI-M leaders meeting came out with a list of around 135 lawmakers, both MLAs and MPs in the country facing similar charges as Mukesh, and noted that since none of them have resigned, so Mukesh also need not.

With the police registering an FIR against Mukesh, he approached a court in Kochi and secured interim relief from arrest.

The Malayalam film industry's 'male hegemony' came out in the open with the release of the Hema Committee report and as of now, FIRs have been registered against various film personalities, which include Mukesh, Siddique, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, Maniyan Pillai Raju, Nivin Pauly, directors Ranjith, and V.K. Prakash, and production executives Vichu and Noble after women actresses registered complaints. Even though the Pinarayi Vijayan government has constituted a seven-member police probe team, comprising four women IPS officials, which has begun taking statements from the victims, none of the accused have been summoned to appear before it so far.

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