October 14, 2018:
“MeToo” had been coined by Tarana Burke, an African-American civil rights activist who is the senior director of ‘Girls for Gender Equity’ in Brooklyn.
In 2008, when actor Tanushree Dutta accused veteran actor Nana Patekar of harassment on the sets of a movie, few people took her seriously. Her complaint to the Cine & TV Artists’ Association, or CINTAA, fell on deaf ears.
The news made no impact, & there was little outrage. There was little support from peers & on the social media, which was not as powerful in India then as it is now.
Tanushree soon left the industry, & India. When she brought up the same charges 10 years later, however, she found people listening to her & take note.
It seemed her interview to a TV channel last month, in which she reiterated her accusations against Nana with an unchanged version, gave women the voice they needed to speak up, & soon women all over the country started sharing their harassment stories on social media.
Women journalists, writers, & actors, women from diverse fields came forward with shocking tales of abuse of power & sexual misconduct at the hands of some of the most influential males of the country.
Author Chetan Bhagat, actors Alok Nath, Rajat Kapoor, director Vikas Bahl, former journalist & current Union minister MJ Akbar are among big names that have come up so far — all accused of sexual harassment.
With more & more women choosing not to remain silent anymore & keep their stories hidden, it is finally right to assume that the #MeToo movement has arrived in India.
#MeToo movement: How it started
It all started about a year ago, when Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey, journalists with The New York Times, broke the now well-known story of sexual scandals involving film producer Harvey Weinstein.
They went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for 2018 for their story. On October 15, 2017, #MeToo was popularised by actor Alyssa Milano in an attempt to “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem”.
However, the expression of “MeToo” had been coined by Tarana Burke, an African-American civil rights activist who is the senior director of ‘Girls for Gender Equity’ in Brooklyn.
The phrase was coined on her ‘My Space’ page while she was working at “Just Be Inc”, a non-profit company that she founded. The ‘Me Too’ movement was started by Burke, in 2006, to help all sexual assault survivors, especially the women of colour.
A three-time sexual abuse survivor herself, Burke was left searching for right words when she was talking to a girl who revealed that her mother’s boyfriend was sexually abusing her. Since then, Burke has shared this message with survivors everywhere – “You are not alone, this happened to me too.”
In an interview to CNN, Tanara Burke had said, “On one side, it’s a bold declarative statement that ‘I’ am not ashamed’ & ‘I’ am not alone’. On the other side, it is a statement from a survivor to survivor that says ‘I see you, I hear you, I understand you & I am here for you or I get it.”
In 2017, Tanara Burke, among some other female activists, was named “The Silence Breakers” by Time magazine.
#MeToo movement: Spreading out
Since then, #MeToo has become a symbol of women raising their voice against their oppressors.
Not just in English speaking countries, it is being used by women all over the world to share their stories of sexual harassment on social media.
#balancetonporc, which translates to “rat out your pig”, was used by French women to share their stories, while #quellavoltache (“that time that”) was being used by Italians & #Yotambien by Spanish women.
#MeTooIndia
In India, #MeToo movement came almost a year late. However, it is gaining momentum fast, & women now know they can & should speak up.
The #MeTooIndia movement outing the predators who were till now enjoying immunity due to their power & position gives a welcoming signal. The widespread reach of social media has helped people discuss these stories.
Pressure is building up for MJ Akbar’s resignation, Nana Patekar & Sajid Khan have stepped out of a movie, comedy collective AIB has been dropped by Hotstar & has lost deals worth crores over allegations of sexual misconduct.
This conversation was long overdue. It is happening & happening in full force.
All hopes are now pinned on this movement — started by urban, “elite & privileged”, women — to give women in smaller cities & rural areas the voice they need to speak out & not suffer in silence. Toll so far.....
Bollywood Biggies
The Indian film industry, which is known to maintain silent on controversial issues, saw the onset of the #MeToo movement with actress Tanushree Dutta calling out veteran actor Nana Patekar on a film set ten years ago.
Her bold move encouraged actresses including Kangana Ranaut & Nayani Dixit to speak out against popular filmmaker Vikas Bahl (the man behind Netflix’s Sacred Games) of sexual advances. Filmmaker & actor Rajat Kapoor was exposed by three women who called out his misbehavior.
Filmmaker & scriptwriter Subhash Kapoor was accused by actress Geetika Tyagi of molestation. Actress Flora Saini spoke of harassment by producer Gaurang Doshi. Bollywood singer Sona Mohapatra accused singer Kailash Kher of sexual misconduct.
Television Artists
Veteran TV writer, producer & director Vinta Nanda alleged rape by yesteryear TV star Alok Nath. Navneet Nishan, Sandhya Mridul & Deepika Amin also called out Nath for inappropriate behavior.
An unnamed woman called out actor Rohit Roy of assault.
Photographer Pablo Bartholomew is alleged to have harassed a woman after she met him for an interview. Photographer at 22feet Tribal Worldwide, Aniruddha Das, was called out.
Authors & Lyricists
Author Chetan Bhagat was called out for sending inappropriate texts. Writer Kiran Nagarkar’s name was also called out in misconduct accusations. An assault survivor called out noted author Suhel Seth for sexual harassment.
Lyricist & writer Varun Grover was called out for alleged misbehavior. Playback singer Chinmayi Sripaada accused lyricist Vairamuthu of misconduct.
Comedians
AIB, one of the most popular comedy groups in India, has seen the biggest hit of the #Metoo movement. After women named the company’s founding member Tanmay Bhat & Gursimran Khamba of sexual misconduct, Bhat stepped down as co-founder & CEO & Khamba was sent on leave. The group lost contracts from online streaming platform Hotstar & its future is in a limbo.
Their former member, actor-comedian Utsav Chakraborty, was also called out by more than two women for sending nude pictures.
In the first from the LGBTQ community, comedian Kaneez Surka accused comedian Aditi Mittal of forcefully planting a kiss on stage.
Journalists
Media witnessed the exits of high-profile journalists after they were named & shamed on social media.
The National Political Editor of The Hindustan Times, Prashant Jha, had to step down after sexual harassment complaint by a former reporter at the newspaper.
India’s largest media company Times of India’s Hyderabad-based Editor KR Sreenivas was called out for sexual harassment by seven women in a petition to the newspaper & has been sent on administrative leave.
Gautam Adhikari, former executive editor at Times of India & former editor-in-chief of DNA in Mumbai, resigned from his position as senior fellow at the Center for American Progress after at least three journalists called out his unwanted advances & forced assault.
Hindustan Times’ Manoj Ramachandran was called out by a journalist for sending inappropriate text messages.
Huffington Post’s former Trends Editor Anurag Verma was called out by women for sending a suggestive Snapchat video with sexual connotation; he admitted to the offence a& apologized on Twitter.
Business Standard’s journalist Mayank Jain was called out by women journalists for making unwelcome advances. Jain resigned with immediate effect.
Indian media startup The Wire’s co-founder Sidharth Bhatia has been called out by two women journalists for harassment; the charge was rubbished by Bhatia.
Another media startup The Quint’s Meghnad Bose was accused of harassment by at least three women who studied with him in college. Bose issued an apology on Facebook.
Advertising Professionals
Advertising company Publicis’ Executive Creative Director Ishrath Nawaz has been accused of harassment by a former colleague. The national creative director of iProspect India Dinesh Swamy, has been accused of misconduct. The ex-creative director at Webchutney, Omkar Sane, was also called out.
Women accused Creativeland Asia’s Sajan Raj Kurup of harassment. Famous Innovations’ Raj Kamble was called out for misbehavior. Aditya Pawan, international brand marketing manager at Red Bull, was called out. The chief creative technologist at DDB Mudra Group, Brijesh Jacob, was alleged of misconduct.
Kartik Iyer, CEO of Happy mcgarrybowen, has been accused of harassment.
Sudarshan Banerjee, the co-founder of Utopeia Communicationz, has been accused of workplace harassment via an anonymous post on social media.
Politicians
At many as nine harassment accounts came to the limelight against the former newspaper editor M J Akbar, who is currently Minister of State for External Affairs & a member of the Upper House. Akbar is yet to comment on the allegations.
Entrepreneurs
In the past, whistleblowers expose has led founder of viral content company TVF’s founder Arunabh Kumar to step down. Indian angel investor Mahesh Murthy is fighting a legal case filed by a woman entrepreneur for alleged misconduct. Her naming & shaming Murthy led four others to come out & speak against harassment by him.
Future
While India’ Child & Women Development Minister Maneka Gandhi assured harassment of any kind will not be tolerated, the #MeToo India movement exploding is just a tip of the iceberg of the years of oppression women have faced.
What happens to such exposes & social media outbursts? The rape trial of journalist Tarun Tejpal, which has been pending since the last five years, could prove as testimony to the fate awaiting others called out.
Picture Source :
