Srinivas Kamat
The time honoured maxim of jurisprudence that an accused is to be considered not guilty until he/she is proven guilty seems to have been turned on its head when you assess the #MeToo movement whether it is in Hollywood and the Western countries or in its ‘#MeToo’ version in Bollywood and India. Based on a woman’s complaint professional bodies and corporate entities seem to be taking cognisance of the complaint and are initiating action to debar and/or suspend those involved. The principle of natural justice wherein the accused needs to be heard is also given the go-by.
Most of these complaints of sexual harassment, molestation and/or rape pertain almost to 10, 15 or even 20 years ago. There may not even be a shred of evidence to support the victim’s case if it all it comes to court but the media and also the government seems to recognise these slanderous allegations as a fit case for action. Emboldened by such approaches there are many women coming forward with their #MeToo stories, some concocted, some maybe true but the reading of the tales is a journey through soft porn. Anyone writing against these women are termed patriarchal or paternalistic and vilified.
Consider the case of the accused in these cases who are established in their professions to various degrees and in the cases of some who are considered as leaders in their field and society at large. What are they to do when such accusations surface? It is difficult for them to address the media since the trend seems to be in favour of the accuser and the tendency is to get as much of the salacious details as possible. Moreover the incidents more than 10 years old have been lost in the passage of time. Where people cannot remember what happened yesterday, one wonders what credence should be given to incidents more than 10 years old. There is also the aspect of consensus in the incidents where if the act is between two consenting adults then there is no issue at all. So the only option for the accused is to take the legal route for redress as has been done in 2 of the more celebrated cases in this India #MeToo movement.
Now let us look at the other side of the coin, that of the accuser. These women for the furtherance of their careers or professions thought it fit to do whatever is required to get ahead, which particularly applies to the entertainment industry, and now looking back want to take revenge against those who they feel had slighted them or insulted them. Their actions have therefore nothing to with women’s rights at large but remain individual grouses. Again women talking about the paternalistic attitude of men are actually doing a disservice to the female gender and the women’s rights movement by exposing their weakness. The #MeToo movement in that sense is putting back the women’s rights movement by decades and all because of some aberrated and disoriented women.
Another insight that the #MeToo movement has thrown up is that the media and society at large are sympathetic to women’s causes which is a good thing and it is time that women use this goodwill to further their position in our society.
