India's #MeToo moment: Bollywood finally speaks up for Tanushree Dutta
Mumbai, Sep 28: Bollywood celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar and Hansal Mehta among many others have come out in support of actress Tanushree Dutta, who has spoken up about her sexual harassment at the hands of veteran actor Nana Patekar on a film set a decade ago.
Tanushree, a former beauty queen, who had first raised the allegation against the actor in 2008, brought the spotlight once again on her unpleasant experience of working with Nana during the shooting of "Horn 'Ok' Pleassss", in a recent interview.
While speaking to IANS, Tanushree said it was because of Nana's powerful position as a National Award winning actor that her voice had remained suppressed for so long.
Here's what the celebrities have tweeted:
Priyanka Chopra: Agreed..the world needs to believe survivors.
Farhan Akhtar, who has launched a social campaign Men Against Rape and Discrimination or MARD in 2013, re-tweeted a string of posts by an eyewitness about the details of Tanushree's ordeal.
"This thread is very telling. Janice (Sequeira, who at that time was with a news channel) was there at the time of the incident being debated today. Even when Tanushree Dutta had career concerns to keep quiet 10 years ago, she did not. And her story has not changed now. Her courage should be admired, not her intention questioned," Farhan said.
Actress Richa Chadha wrote that "It hurts to be Tanushree Dutta right now. To be alone, questioned.
"No woman wants publicity that opens the floodgates of trolling and insensitivity. What happened to her on set was intimidation. Her only fault was she did not back down -- (that) takes a special courage to be Tanushree Dutta."
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta tweeted: "India in general does not have a conducive work environment. Mental harassment, abuse and predatorial behaviour by people in positions of power are prevalent and considered perks of being in power. Years of oppression and colonial rule have permanently altered our DNA."
Actress Swara Bhasker re-tweeted a series of posts and wrote: "This is a long thread, but one that must be read.... lots of clues here as to why Bollywood's #MeToo moment is so far away. Because we don't want to hear these voices."
Producer, author and wife of actor Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna tweeted: "Please read this thread before judging or shaming Tanushree Dutta -- a working environment without harassment and intimidation is a fundamental right and by speaking up this brave woman helps pave the way towards that very goal for all of us!"
Sequeira on Wednesday tweeted a thread recalling the unsavoury episode saying "some incidents that take place even a decade ago remain fresh in your memory. What happened with Tanushree is one such incident.
She said she had seen how the actress was visibly upset about something on the sets while Nana, choreographer Ganesh Acharya and the producer huddled around.
She said: "Amidst this chaos, I got hold of #NanaPatekar. All he said was, "Meri beti jaisi hai", which didn't really make any sense at that point." It was only later that she realised.
Sequeira said: "The chat I had with Dutta hours after the incident was identical to the account she's come out with now. How could a person's version remain the same a decade later if there wasn't any truth to it?(Our chat was off-the-record, even though she went on to give interviews later.)
Nana on Thursday said to a news channel: "What can I do about what one says? You tell me. What does it mean by sexual harassment."
In a shock to many of his fans and supporters, megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Thursday dodged commenting on the episode saying: "Neither am I Tanushree, nor am I Nana," which invited trolls galore.
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UT with dual power structure 'worst form of govt', says Omar Abdullah
Srinagar (PTI): Terming the current administrative structure in Jammu and Kashmir the “worst form of government”, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called for an urgent shift toward full statehood while acknowledging that significant progress has been made in narrowing differences with the Centre over the transaction of business rules.
The chief minister also hit out at vested interests making efforts to create a political wedge between Jammu and Srinagar, saying “they have failed and they will continue to fail”, and highlighted the restoration of the traditional biannual shift of the capital known as ‘Darbar Move’ as a vital bridge in narrowing the emotional divide between the two regions.
Speaking with PTI, Abdullah argued that the logic behind treating a territory with 90 elected legislators on par with smaller regions like Puducherry, which has only 30, remains incomprehensible, and reiterated his earlier stand that a dual power system where two power structures exist is a "recipe for disaster”.
“Can you not see the difference between a tiny one with 30 MLAs and one with 90 MLAs? And you still believe that this current system is beneficial to Jammu and Kashmir after everything that happened last year?” the chief minister asked while referring to the Pahalgham tragedy, pointing out that keeping elected representatives out of the law and order situation was doing no good.
He specifically noted that the size and scale of Jammu and Kashmir demand a governance model where the elected representatives are fully responsible for administration.
“I continue to maintain that view. I continue to believe that a system of Union territory with an assembly is by far the worst form of government that you can come up with,” Abdullah told PTI here recently.
The chief minister highlighted that several key institutions, including universities, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, and the Power Development Corporation, should have automatically come under the domain of the elected government.
“I am not even arguing on the central services, law and order, and police. As a Union territory, those are automatically within the domain of the unelected government. But these were institutions that were previously the responsibility of the elected government. And they should be,” Abdullah said.
Despite these friction points, Abdullah expressed optimism, stating that his government and the Government of India are close to reaching an agreement on the rules of business and that a formal proposal for the appointment of a new advocate general has finally been dispatched to the appropriate authorities.
“Again, as I said, we have made significant progress on these issues,” he said.
On the long-standing issue of summary dismissals of government employees without judicial inquiry, Abdullah described the process as arbitrary, opaque and unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny.
This practice did not originate with the current lieutenant governor's administration but was initiated during the previous BJP-PDP coalition government, he said.
“Look, everyone has the right to prove their innocence. For some reason, these employees were not given that opportunity. And I have no doubt that going ahead, many of these people will return to government service on the back of relief from the court.
“We will not be able to defend the dismissal of these employees in the courts. It will happen, you mark my words, because the process is arbitrary. The process is opaque. There is no clarity and transparency in the process. Ultimately, we will not be able to bear up to judicial scrutiny," he said.
Referring to the promises made by his party, the National Conference, Abdullah detailed the operationalisation of his poll promises, including 200 units of free electricity and six free cooking gas cylinders for the poorest households, underlining that power subsidy is being provided to the poorest of the poor.
He argued that anyone above the poverty line should pay market rates for electricity to ensure that state resources are prioritised for the most vulnerable.
“Rich people shouldn't even be getting subsidised electricity. If I could, though obviously I can't do it in a single stroke, I would like to remove subsidised electricity from all these rich people.
“Anybody above BPL (Below Poverty Line) should not be paying subsidised rates for electricity. They should pay the market rate,” he said.
Beyond direct welfare, Abdullah highlighted the restoration of the ‘Darbar Move’ and the introduction of free education and bus travel for women as key milestones in his 20-month-old administration.
Speaking on the composite culture of J-K, Abdullah said the traditional biannual shift of the capital has allowed a new generation of employees from Jammu, who had never worked in the Valley before, to bond with their Kashmiri counterparts.
“The distance between Jammu and Kashmir has reduced to a great extent,” Abdullah said, adding that the two regions historically come together during times of adversity, whether after natural disasters or security crises.
Replying to a query on Kashmiri Pandits who migrated to various camps in Jammu, Abdullah said the question needs to be asked of the BJP as to why they are still in camps.
“Please ask the BJP how many more elections do they want to exploit their (Kashmiri Pandits’) votes before actually doing something to bring them back,” Abdullah said.
Terming the migration “deeply unfortunate”, Abdullah said, “We want those who left in the late 80s, early 90s, to come back. I have always maintained that they left because their sense of security was snatched away. They will come back only when that sense of security is restored. And we have not been able to do that so far.”
Crediting former prime minister Manmohan Singh for building the Jagti township in Jammu for migrants and creating a job quota for them, Abdullah said that nothing more has been done for the community since then.
To a question on dynastic politics following the recent defeat of M K Stalin in Tamil Nadu, Abdullah dismissed the idea that the defeat of established leaders is a verdict on their lineage, and argued that belonging to a political family only "opens a door" but does not guarantee a seat at the table.
“What keeps it open is your own performance,” Abdullah said, pointing out that even non-dynastic leaders like Mamata Banerjee faced electoral setbacks.
He also dismissed rumours of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle in J-K as “absolute lies”.
