Would love to see our industry become cleaner, respectful of women: AR Rahman on #MeToo
Mumbai, Oct 23 : Music maestro AR Rahman believes India's #MeToo movement has the power to make the entertainment industry cleaner and respectful of women.
The 51-year-old Oscar-winning composer, who shared his views on the movement Monday night via social media, said his aim has always been to create a safe working environment for everyone.
"Been observing the #MeToo movement... Some of the names have shocked me... both the victims and their perpetrators... I would love to see our industry become cleaner and respectful of women... More power to all the victims coming forward!!
"In all my endeavours, my team and I are committed to creating an environment where everyone finds a safe creative space to bring their best, evolve and succeed," he wrote.
Rahman, however, said people should be careful before creating a "internet justice system".
"Social media offers great freedom for victims to speak up, however we should be careful in creating a new internet justice system, in case it's misused."
Rahman's statement comes weeks after his long-time collaborator Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu was accused of predatory behaviour by multiple women, including popular singer Chinmayi Sripaada.
India's #MeToo movement started after actor Tanushree Dutta revived a decade-old allegation of harassment against Nana Patekar, accusing him of sexual misconduct on the sets of a 2008 film.
Following Dutta's allegations, many from the Indian film industry including people like Vikas Bahl, Alok Nath, Subhash Ghai, Sajid Khan have been accused of sexual harassment by various women.
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Have won in people’s court, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on by-poll results
Bengaluru (PTI): Buoyed by the assembly election by-polls, which saw the ruling Congress sweeping in all the three seats, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he won in the ‘people’s court’.
He gave credit to the guarantee schemes for the party’s victory in the assembly bypolls in Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna.
“You know what Mahatma Gandhi said. He said people’s court is better than the courts. Now people’s court has given me its verdict,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.
This victory was significant for the Congress as the BJP and JD(S) formed an alliance, he explained.
“We won from Kalyana Karnataka (Sandur), Kittur Karnataka region (Shiggaon), and old Mysuru region (Channapatna). In all the places we won. So, this is very significant."
“After our government came to power about one and half years ago, the BJP made false allegations on me and my government. They also spread lies about our schemes,” Siddaramaiah said.
The CM is an accused in the MUDA site allotment scam where 14 sites in upmarket of Mysuru was allotted to his wife, Parvathi. After the controversy broke out, Parvathi returned the sites to MUDA.
He also came down heavily on the opposition BJP and JD(S) for their lies and ‘baseless allegations’.
The Chief Minister also took a swipe at JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and his son Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy for "crying" in public during elections.
“Deve Gowda and his sons cry, but didn’t their heart melt when several women cried in the Prajwal Revanna case in Hassan?” he asked.
Former JD(S) MP and grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Prajwal Revanna is in jail for allegedly sexually assaulting several women and filming them.
