The #MeToo campaign has taken a serious turn now. What began with a dressing down of ex AIB core member Utsav Chakraborty for his perverted psyche has now turned into a serious whistle blowing campaign, where names irrespective of their stature or profession, have been exposed and shamed by the victims, who earlier didn’t get the right platform to address their grievances.
Be it notorious director Sajid Khan, or ex journalist and BJP MP MJ Akbar, or The Quint journalist Meghnad Bose, or even the core members of AIB like Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Singh Khamba, none has been spared.
However, while online activism is not something to fuss about, these cases are just not normal, they’re also inherently criminal in nature, and can be misused by vested interests as well, as evident in the cases of Vivek Agnihotri, Nana Patekar etc. Therefore, such cases must be brought to a logical conclusion, and keeping that in view, Minister of Women & Child Development Maneka Gandhi has announced that she is setting up a four member judiciary panel to advise the government and look into the MeToo cases.
In a statement issued to the press, she said, ‘…….I believe in the pain and trauma behind every single complaint. Cases of sexual harassment at work must be dealt with a policy of zero tolerance………..
………We have formed a group of judges that will examine some of the cases in a free and independent style and advise them and us where to go from here,” she said.
The twitter handle of her ministry confirmed the same, as reported in the following:-
मैं हर पीड़िता की शिकायत का दर्द समझती हूँ। #SexualHarassmentAtWork के मामलों को जीरो टॉलरेंस की नीति के साथ निपटाना चाहिए। @MinistryWCD चार रिटायर्ड जजों व एक वकील की इस कमेटी को स्थापित कर रहा है, कमेटी सभी शिकायतों की सुनवाई करेगी और अपनी शिफारिश देगी: श्रीमती @Manekagandhibjp pic.twitter.com/cvFNqzfiB4
— Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) October 12, 2018
Official statement of Union Minister Smt. @ManekaGandhiBJP on #MeTooIndia movement.#SexualHarassmentAtWork #DrawTheLine pic.twitter.com/5ELHZVHnth
— Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) October 12, 2018
The committee will look into the legal & institutional framework which is in place for handling complaints of #SexualHarassmentAtWork and advise the
Ministry on how to strengthen these frameworks.#MeTooIndia #DrawTheLine— Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) October 12, 2018
The committee that will be formed serves two purposes. One is to determine the nature of such cases, and the other is to stop the mudslinging fest that is building up within the MeToo movement. Also, Maneka Gandhi added that filing these cases shall have no time limit, as long as they’re genuine.
To quote her press brief, “You will always remember the person who did it, which is why we have written to the Law Ministry that complaints should be without any time limit…
……You can now complain 10-15 years later, doesn’t matter how much later. If you’re going to complain the avenue is still open,” she said, adding that “anger at sexual molestation never goes away”.
While there is nothing to worry about for the genuine victims, especially in cases like that of Vikas Bahl, Sajid Khan, AIB. But the allegations against Zakir Khan came with no proper substance and proof. Hence, setting up a judiciary panel on this issue simply means that only valid cases will be entertained, i.e. zero tolerance for shoot and scoot politics in such cases.
All in all, Maneka Gandhi has hit two birds with one stone. Not only has she ensured that the genuine victims will be promised justice in MeToo cases, but also she has drawn out provisions in order to check the rise of fake cases under this banner. This is just the beginning!
