As India’s #MeToo movement grips the country, Cine and TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) secretary Sushant Singh said that a special committee consisting of actor Raveena Tandon, Renuka Shahane, director Amole Gupte and others will handle the cases relating to the matter.
Speaking to a agency, Singh said, “We will form a special committee to handle the cases. Raveena Tandon, Renuka Shahane, Amole Gupte, journalist Bharati Dubey, three members of POSH at Workplace (Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the workplace) has agreed to be a member of the special committee. We have sent emails to a few others t join the committee.”
Singh further stated that it was necessary to send a show cause notice to actor Alok Nath in connection with the sexual misconduct allegation levelled by producer Vinta Nanda. “Every case is different. Allegations on Alok Nath by Vinta Nanda are very serious. She had given us a formal complaint. It was necessary to send him a show cause notice.”
Nanda had accused Alok Nath of rape and narrated her horrifying ordeal in a Facebook post. She was the writer and producer of the teleserial ‘Tara’ in the 90s, in which Nath played the lead role.
The ‘Satya’ actor went on to say “No one ever asked Nana Patekar to present his case. It was sexual harassment, misconduct at borderline. We sent him a letter and he replied. The investigation is underway. We can’t take action against anyone without knowing what the police investigation says.”
The ‘Me Too’ movement gained momentum in India after Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta accused Nata Patekar of allegedly misbehaving with her during a film shoot in 2008.
Since then, scores of women have come out to speak about their ordeals on social media, including actors, musicians, journalists, and politicos.
Over the last week, women have levelled allegations of sexual misconduct against Subhash Ghai, Alok Nath, Kailash Kher, Chetan Bhagat, Sajid Khan, and Varun Grover, among others.
Director Vikas Bahl, who was caught at the center of controversy following allegations of sexual harassment against him, has filed a defamation case against Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and others on Thursday.
Bahl filed the suit in the Bombay High Court, and has also sought compensation of Rs 10 crores from the respondents.
In his application submitted to the court, Bahl has alleged that Kashyap and Motwane, among others, took advantage of the ongoing #MeToo movement in the country and have published “false, malicious, unsubstantiated imputations, allegations and statements” against him through their social media platforms.
“They did so with an intent to settle personal scores, exact vendetta and due to professional jealousy with an intent to defame him and destroy his career,” the ‘Queen’ filmmaker told the court.
In his application, Bahl pleaded the court to direct Kashyap and Motwane to delete the “defamatory” posts.
The director has also named a few media publications and their editors in his application.
Earlier in October, Bahl had sent a legal notice to his former partners of the now dissolved Phantom Films, Kashyap and Motawane.
The ‘Shaandaar’ director has been accused of sexually harassing a woman who used to work as a crew member with him in Phantom Films. Kangana Ranaut has also accused Bahl of sexual misconduct on the sets of ‘Queen’, the critically acclaimed film directed by him.
Javier Bardem says he does not approve of Woody Allen’s “public lynching” in the child sexual assault allegations that have resurfaced over the past years against the filmmaker.
The 49-year-old actor, who worked with Allen in 2007’s “Vicky Christina Barcelona”, said he collaborate with the director in a heartbeat if he called him.
“At the time I did ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’, the allegations were already well known for more than 10 years, and two states in the US deemed he was not guilty.
“If the legal situation ever changes, then I’d change my mind. But for now I don’t agree with the public lynching that he’s been receiving, and if Woody Allen called me to work with him again I’d be there tomorrow morning. He’s a genius,” Bardem said.
According to a media report, the actor was speaking at the Lumiere Festival in Lyon Tuesday.
Dylan Farrow, Allen’s adopted daughter with former wife Mia Farrow, accused the director of sexually abusing her in the early 1990s while she was a child.
She reiterated her claims in a 2014 New York Times op-ed and other articles.
The allegations caught steam in the wake of the #MeToo uprising.
Last month, Allen’s wife Soon-Yi Previn broke her decades-long silence over claims against her husband, calling them “unjust” and said that her adoptive mother Mia had “taken advantage of the #MeToo movement”.
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon has been roped in to replace Diane Keaton in the Roger Michell-directed remake of an English-language remake to the 2014 Danish film, Silent Heart, helmed by Bille August.
According to a media report, the film, which features Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska, will also star Sam Neill of ‘Jurassic Park’ fame, Bex Taylor-Klaus from ‘Arrow’ and newcomer Anson Boon, to name a few.
The film revolves around Lily (Sarandon), a terminally ill mother who brings her daughters (Winslet and Wasikowska) and their families together for one last family gathering before she commits suicide.
The script of the film has been written by Christian Thorpe, and is being produced by Sherryl Clark and Millennium’s David Bernardi.
The film’s shooting is slated to begin next week in the United Kingdom.
Pop singer Janet Jackson is all set to receive the Global Icon Award at the upcoming MTV European Music Awards in Bilbao, Spain.
Moreover, Jackson will perform a medley of her hit songs during the awards ceremony, including her latest single “Made for Now” featuring Daddy Yankee, confirmed a leading portal.
The news was announced by Bruce Gillmer, the global head of music and talent for Viacom and the co-brand head of MTV International, who hailed the Grammy Award-winning singer as “one of the world’s biggest stars.”
Janet, who is the youngest member of the Jackson family, has a number of accolades in her kitty, including six Grammys, 11 American Music Awards, 9 MTV Video Music Awards and a Golden Globe.
The ‘Escapade’ hitmaker was recently conferred with the BMI Icon Award at the 2018 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards held at Atlanta’s Woodruff Arts Center’s Symphony Hall.
The 2018 MTV EMAs are slated to be held November 4.
Turns out, people tend to mistake Keira Knightley for everyone from Kate Winslet to Britney Spears.
The ‘Colette’ actress, who featured on ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’, opened about how fans have mistaken her for Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet and others. “All the time. I’ve been chased through an airport as Natalie Portman. Natalie Portman a lot. I’ve been chased through a park as Kate Winslet. Quite a few people have come over to me to ask me to say hello to Daniel Craig for them because they think I’m Rachel Weisz. Lovely.”
And that’s not all, the list goes on. One of the names that came as a surprise was Britney Spears. ” (It was) in LA, and I was in a shop. I don’t know. It was a weird one. I had my picture as Britney Spears.”
While something of this sort might come off as offensive for others, it is not the case when it comes to the ‘Pride and Prejudice’ actor. “I quite enjoy it, though. I’m much more polite, I think, when people think that I’m somebody else,” she said.
The Oscar-nominated actor, whose past credits include ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Anna Karenina’, and ‘ The Imitation Game’, will next be seen in Disney’s ‘The Nutcrackers and the Four Realms’ and Gavin Hood’s “Official Secrets.
1) Akbar’s resignation leads to the victory of truth
Finally, nine days after being accused of sexual harassment by several women, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar resigned from his office. It is the first step towards the victory of justice and truth. Obviously, the decision must have been taken after the discussion the issue among the BJP top leaders. With no doubt, BJP took an appropriate step to exit Mr. Akbar, because it was becoming untenable to ignore all the allegations and also BJP’s continuous silence could have adverse electoral fallouts in upcoming general elections of 2019. I hope soon M J Akbar will be exposed in front of the court too and the truth will come to light about all the allegations.
– MF Qasmi
2) Scientific features of Hindu religion not understood properly
Proverb ‘Law is Blind’ fits fairly well to some court-decisions where counsels fail to explain and judges fail to understand salient features of world’s most scientific and ancient Hindu religion with controversial verdicts coming seriously hurting religious sentiments of the majority community.
Hindu religion comprises many welcome features which were made religious rituals so that people could not overlook these. For example, there used to be a system to throw coins in the river while crossing the bridge. This system had a scientific reason for purifying river-water through copper because, in earlier days, coins used to be of copper. Restriction on menstruating women to enter kitchens was made because women in those days feel weakness due to bleeding. Worshipping certain gods by women of a specific age-group was prohibited because such worshipped gods were Brahmcharis and it was not considered good to allow women of a certain age-group to worship them.
Since these religious rituals were at times misused by some priests to exploit people, Swami Dayanand brought Arya Samaj as a safeguard against misuse of rituals by some priests. Ruling party at the Centre, and if the not Central government, should propagate scientific reasons behind religious rituals of Hinduism because earlier pseudo-secular governments never tried to do so for appeasing vote-bank politics. Any such publicised analysis will be most useful in arguing in courts on matters of religious faith and belief. Women opposing such ancient traditions in name of equality are usually anti-religion, while Constitution gives right to follow religion.
– Subhash Chandra Agrawal
3) What kind of development is this?
Close to 10 millions spent to construct a public toilet on Marine Drive is a wasteful expenditure of the top order. The politicians who sanction these public utilities seem to have wrong priorities. Public hospitals in our country stink like toilets as they operate on meager funds while luxurious toilets are constructed for vote bank politics in elite localities for fame in areas where people don’t need these toilets for use. Democracy in our country is misused. Mumbai has the richest civic corporation in the world but the management is corrupt and faulty as taxes recovered from people is not optimally utilised.
Administration of public utilities should be handed over to private corporate bodies for accountability. Roads without potholes, pavements, flyovers, public utilities like trains and BEST buses, street lights in working conditions should be the priority and not toilets that cost crores. Sanitation too is important and let us also construct clean toilets (20 can be constructed in 1 crore) as many as required without wasting undue amount on luxury. Politicians should be made accountable for sums they sanction for utilities so that public money does not go to the drains!
– S.N.Kabra
4) The arrogant attitude of BSP MP’s son
It’s totally condemnable that BSP MP Rakesh Pandey’s son Ashish Pandey brandished a gun and threatened the son of a three-time former legislator from Delhi. Despite the victim repeatedly asked him to leave him and his friends alone throughout the confrontation, but he did not seem to leave them. It shows the arrogant attitude of BSP MP’s son. How he can dare to appear in a public place upholding a gun pointing at a citizen who was with his female friend? The administration should take a sticking step against this arrogant and teach him a lesson to prevent such horrible incidents to take place.
– F.T.Mulla
5) BJP should take action against M J Akbar
The chain of allegations against Union Minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar does not seem to stop as several new allegations came to light even after he filed a defamation case against one of his victims. But surprisingly the Modi-led government is yet to take any action against him who always talks about women’s safety and their improvement. Which moment is the BJP waiting for? Is it not enough to take action that more than 20 women courageously have revealed their bitter and dark experiences with M J Akbar? How a respected woman can be considered a liar when she speaks publicly about her sexual harassment? It clearly shows that women are immensely hurt not only physically but also mentally. So, the BJP should take action against the Union Minister.
– Mohd Rahmani
6) Govt should pay heed to core issues
It is being observed that some political leaders and Chief Ministers have renamed some of the cities in their states as presently UP’s CM Yogi Adityanath did the same restoring Allahabad’s name into Prayagraj. He also wishes to restore the name of some other cities and the trend goes on nonstop. It is obvious that the renaming of a place will not change the geography and infrastructure of the place. So, the government must pay heed to core issues such as population, water crisis, unemployment, garbage and sewage management etc. Moreover renaming of any place creates a lot of confusions and problems. The governments are wasting public hard-earned money on these irrelevant matters while a large number of people are giving up their lives in the country owing to starvation.
– Mohd Faheem
7) RSS must stand in women’s side
The RSS, which was yet to clarify its stand over #MeToo campaign, finally broke its silence and appeared describing the movement as “elitist”. It was also stated by one of top RSS leader that ‘common women, who face uncomfortable situations at the hands of common men, do not fall in the category of #MeToo campaign. This statement is not a good sign in women’s favour particularly when it comes from one of the most effective organisations in India. The RSS must stand up with women to meet them justice because it is high time to prove its concerns regarding women’s safety and their protection. Otherwise, this kind of statements from such big organisation will encourage the culprits to repeat the same crime and to play with women as an embodiment of enjoyment and amusement.
– M.F.U.Tandvi
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
But what is the customary practice in the mosque it is Muslims, in church it is Christians, and so on. To maintain purity, cleanliness, and sanctity, certain customs were evolved, it is the conscience of the person belonging to that faith which made them adhere to that custom. Reinforcement and reconfirmation of the existing right should not be construed as a new liberty. It is conscience, faith, and custom which governs temples and that every man and woman of the faith may continue to follow.
Religious institutions are blind to fundamental rights like equality and harmony. Apart from patriotically cast based derogatory beliefs, customs are entertained in our system. Another feud system in villages is barring certain caste people from entering temples, no person approaches the highest court. Gandhiji fought for Schedule Caste and Tribes’ right to enter temples, which practice is alive even today. We Indians are dual values one for rich and famous another for lower rung as well for upper caste and lower caste. These disparities need to be removed by people in power.
More power to Women! Lord Aiyappa is smiling! About time he sees his mums and sisters at Sabarimala! Indian philosophy is on the rise! Notwithstanding! Can the Administrators of Sabarimala Temple organise the annual Darshan of Lord Aiyappa in a more professional manner! There is bound to be an accident if it is not improved! With more worshippers during peak Aiyappa season, anything can happen.
The judgement reflects the spirit and essence of real Hinduism and the teachings of Lord Krishna. Messages from the Bhagavad Gita reveal that:-
“Progress and development are the rules of this universe: Things may not be the same, the way they used to be. Things and circumstances change. We should neither expect people, nor surroundings, not even society, to be the same. They all change with time. We move ahead. The Universe forgets old things and moves forwards, so do we. We should not stick to one place. That will make our existence much more problematic in this world.
“Accept the equanimity of life”: When you see all beings as equal in suffering and in joy when you are rooted in the oneness of all beings, you cannot love or hate anyone because it is all part of the same thing.
Of course, the apex court paved the way for women of all ages to worship Lord Aiyappa as a matter of fundamental right. But the pertinent woman folk know that celibacy is the basic religious need of men to worship Lord Aiyappa and that ought not to be disturbed by women in the age with menstruation. Hence, they will keep up the religious value and keep them away from visiting His temple. Let us cherish both moral and religious value. But there is no bar for women who want to exercise the new right as per the verdict of the apex court. Women have been worshipping Aiyappa for thousands and thousands of years. May not be at the temple as in the olden days, they couldn’t get there.
Hopefully, Kerala Devaswom Board learned its lesson. Building roads and helipads to increase revenue through offerings is the death of tradition. If people had to walk to get to the temple, there won’t be any rush to get there. The increase has created pollution problems for the Pampa River. There is the reason our ancestors did things in a particular manner. Same environmental issues are showing up at every religious place where the access is made easy.
The welcome judgement under the modern disposition where people travel to Sabarimala by modes other than foot, unlike olden days. In that situation, women would not be comfortable as it would take several weeks to reach the pilgrim centre a very strenuous job indeed! As such the rule of that time fitted very well with the circumstances prevailing then.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The government on Thursday said there is no threat of discontinuation of mobile numbers issued using Aadhaar, following the Supreme Court ruling that barred use of the national biometric ID by private companies.
Debunking reports that over 50 crore, or half of the mobile SIMs in the country, faced deactivation, the Department of Telecommunication and the 12-digit unique identity number-issuing authority UIDAI in a joint statement said, mobile phone users at their choice can seek a change of their Aadhaar-based authentication done in the past with alternate proof of identity without any disconnection of the number.
An alternate form for buying new SIMs through a mobile app that will time capture photograph of the persons along with ID proof such as Aadhaar card, voter ID or passport is in the works.
“The Supreme Court in its judgement in Aadhaar case has nowhere directed that the mobile number which has been issued through Aadhaar e-KYC has to be disconnected,” it said.
Terming the report as “completely untrue and imaginary”, the government said there is no reason for panic or fear at all.
“People should not believe in such rumours,” it said.
The Supreme Court has also not asked for deletion of the electronic-Know Your Customer (a means of establishing the identity of the person) data of telecom customers after six months, the statement said.
“What the apex court has asked that UIDAI should not keep authentication log for more than six months. The restriction of not keeping authentication log beyond six months is on the UIDAI and not on the telecom companies. Therefore, there is no need for telecom companies or AUAs/JUAs to delete authentication logs at their end,” it added.
AUA is Authentication User Agency (AUA) and KUA is KYC User Agency (KUA).
DoT-UIDAI said telecom companies are required to keep authentication logs at their end as per Aadhaar regulations to resolve any consumer grievances.
“In the light of the SC verdict if anybody wishes to get his/her Aadhaar eKYC replaced by the fresh KYC, he/she may request the service provider for delinking of his/her Aadhaar by submitting fresh” identification documentation, it said.
The Supreme Court, it said, has prohibited the issue of new SIM cards through Aadhaar eKYC authentication process due to lack of a law.
“There is no direction to deactivate the old mobile phones,” the statement added.
The telecom department and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) are in the process to bring out a completely hassle-free and digital process for issuing new SIM cards through a mobile app, which will be fully compliant of the Supreme Court judgement in Aadhaar case.
“In the proposed process, live photograph of the person with latitude, longitude, and time stamp will be captured. The photo of ID such as Aadhaar card, voter ID, etc., will be captured. The SIM card agent will be authenticated through OTP and SIM card will be issued. This process will be completely hassle-free and digital,” the statement said.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday demanded a law to pave the way for construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying an organised Hindu society is the bedrock of unity and the acceptance of eternal Hindutva ethos is the “panacea” for fundamentalism.
In his annual Vijayadashmi address, the last before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, at the RSS headquarters, Bhagwat also spoke about “urban maoism”, the Sabarimala row and the need to strengthen the country’s borders.
Bhagwat said the sangh has been associated with sentiments of crores of country men in the efforts for construction of a magnificent Ram temple at the birthplace of Lord Rama, who is the personification of life energy of the nation and icon of upholding the dharma.
The acceptance of eternal Hindutva ethos is the panacea for fundamentalism, selfishness, unrestrained consumerism arising out of hardcore materialism and insensitivity, he said.
“Temple construction is necessary from self-esteem point of view; it will also pave way for an atmosphere of goodwill and oneness,” he said.
Bhagwat also hit out at Maoism, saying it has always been “urban” and the “neo-Left” doctrine of urban naxals is to establish an “anti-national” leadership with blind followers solely committed to them.
In an apparent reference to the arrest of a number of activists by Pune police for their alleged links with Maoists, Bhagwat alleged that “urban Maoism” was propagating falsehood and spreading hatred in society.
“These people (Maoists) take strength from the country’s enemies and always malign the nation wherever they go,” he alleged.
He said in the last four years, a specific tone has been given to agitations originated in some undesirable incident in the society, old and new issues bothering different sections of the society and long-standing or emerging demands.
“The selfish power hungry politics with sheer disrespect for the social harmony, legal and constitutional discipline and with an eye on votes in the upcoming elections have been apparently clear behind these machinations,” he charged.
“But this time an atmosphere of divergence, separatism, violence, acerbic hatred and going to the extent of fuelling anti-national sentiments is being created by exploiting these grievances,” the RSS chief said.
The leading faces of the groups from whom the slogans like ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’ emanated, have been at the forefront with their provocative speeches in such incidents at some places, he said.
When violent activities in remote forest areas were dealt with firmly, those leading and abetting violence were seen at the forefront of these agitations as votaries of urban naxalism, he said.
On the ongoing Sabarimala row, he said the Supreme Court verdict on the issue had not taken the nature and premise of the tradition that has been accepted by society and has given rise to “divisiveness” in society.
Questions such as why only the Hindu society experiences such repeated and brazen onslaughts on its symbols of faith, obviously arise in the public’s mind and lead to unrest, Bhagwat said.
“The situation arising out of the recent verdict on Sabarimala temple shows a similar predicament. The nature and premise of the tradition that has been accepted by society and continuously followed for years together were not taken into consideration,” he said.
The Supreme Court had last month lifted the centuries- old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine located in Kerala.
Nobel Prize winner and social activist Kailash Satyarthi was the chief guest on the occasion.
In his nearly 80-minute speech, Bhagwat called for securing the country’s borders, strengthening the armed forces and focussing on internal security.
Noting that India always stood for peace and brotherhood, he stressed the need to maintain a balance between strengthening armed forces and raising their morale and at the same time propagating peace with neighbours.
Without naming Pakistan, he said attacks on borders have not stopped despite a new government taking over (there).
He noted that India’s foreign policy has always been for peace, tolerance and friendly relations irrespective of governments.
Highlighting the importance of internal security, he said steps should be taken to ensure law of the land and Constitution is followed.
He also said that the society’s role is important in ensuring that the internal security is strong.
The country cannot be assured about its security without the total self-reliance in the field of defence production even while continuing with multilateral exchanges wherever necessary. The pace of national efforts in this direction has to be accelerated, Bhagwat said.
He also said that the process of cultural awareness was continuing in the country.
“Like cultural awareness, Mahatma Gandhi’s experiments with truth and non-violence gave the ordinary citizens moral courage to fight the British during independence struggle.”
“This year is the 550th Prakash Parv of Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji. It is Shri Guru Nanak Deo ji’s legacy that gave the country a magnificent and majestic tradition of 10 gurus who removed our state of penury and inferiority,”He said.
“When our entire society, forgetting the truth inherited from the natural self of Bharat, became defeated, Sri Guru Nanak ji showed a new path of self-enlightenment through his life, gave the society a new life of oneness by ameliorating the strayed tradition,” he added.
