PTI, NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Union minister Maneka Gandhi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Friday strongly backed women who narrated their experiences of sexual misconduct and more as the #MeToo floodgates opened wider with high-profile directors Sajid Khan, Subhash Ghai and Luv Ranjan the latest to be ‘outed’.
While big Bollywood projects “Housefull 4” and “Mogul” faced an uncertain future with their stars saying they would not work with those accused of sexual harassment, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said she plans to set up a panel of legal experts to look into the allegations.
She also asserted that she believes in the “pain and trauma” of every complainant. The Congress president said the truth needs to be told “loud and clear in order to bring about change”.
“It’s about time everyone learns to treat women with respect and dignity. I’m glad the space for those who don’t, is closing,” Rahul Gandhi said in his first comments on the #MeToo movement.
Neither of the two Gandhis spoke on the multiple allegations against Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar, who has been accused by several former women colleagues of sexual harassment when he served as editor at various media organisations.
More women should come out and address the issue of sexual harassment and narrate their experiences, Maneka Gandhi said.
“I believe in all of them. I believe in the pain and trauma behind every single complainant… I am proposing to set up a committee with senior judicial and legal persons as members to look into all issues emanating from the #MeToo campaign,” the minister told PTI.
Though Rahul Gandhi did not mention Akbar, Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the charges against the minister.
“Modi ji and morals travel in opposite direction. Modi ji will not seek Akbar’s resignation on moral grounds but if he fears his vote bank is affected and he will suffer politically… then he will even sack him,” Govil told reporters.
As demands escalated for action against Akbar, Bollywood grappled with its own demons.
Farah Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Ajay Devgn and Bipasha Basu were among the big stars who backed the movement against sexual exploitation.
After Aamir Khan dropped out of “Mogul” because its director Subhash Kapoor faced sexual harassment charges in 2014, the shooting of “Housefull 4” was postponed following the allegations against its director Sajid Khan and actor Nana Patekar.
