Me Too Movement - I Support #MeToo Movement | Shonee Kapoor

I ultimately supported the movement ever since #MeToo and #MeTooIndia started trending on Twitter and all media platforms. I was happy that, for once, the debate that men are falsely targeted would resonate, and the higher echelons of society, the celebrities, the media, and the pseudo-feminists would be divided. Some sanity would prevail in our society. A friend asked me what if a celebrity commits suicide? Would you still favour this movement? I said – ‘Yes, when these celebrities did not shed a tear for other 93000 suicide men, why would I care about a certain celebrity.’

The #MeToo movement started in the West, and we adopted it like most things. I guess it was simmering somewhere when a particular long-forgotten bollywood actress, Tanushree Dutta, accused a reasonably well-known bollywood actor, Nana Patekar, of sexual harassment, and lo, there was a breach in the dam. Like floodgates were open, accusations started thick and hard against bollywood celebrities, media personalities, writers, and thinkers. All in all, one thing was sure: if you are an ordinary man who is not worth any news value, your name won’t be on the list. One after another, people were added to the list of victims, and accusations piled up against immense and mighty. Most remained in stoic silence, but some resorted to filing defamation suits.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development opened a helpline, and the Delhi Commission of Women had an email ID. Police said they would help any victim who made a complaint. But everyone needed to remember the basic postulates of law.

I want to ask these MCD, DCW and Police Chiefs. Victims level the allegations, and it is in the public domain. They are all cognizable offences, and some of them are facing heinous crimes like Rape and Attempt to Rape. What are you waiting for? Why do you need a formal complaint from the victim? The information has to be the basis of the First Information Report and not the complainant’s statement. You can always file a closure report if the information is false. But is it not registering a crime? Is not it a crime of its own? It is sad that the higher judiciary in India, which has taken suo moto action against many ills in the past, is silent on the matter. Are there skeletons in their cupboards, too?

Another aspect I am happy about is that some feminists are caught in the bind. Would they now scream from the rooftops – ‘Hang him, hang him, he is accused of Rape’? People like Suhel Seth and Nandita Das who claimed all men are perverts or potential rapists. They had to issue statements asking for fair probes and denial statements. That just showed them in a bad light like – ‘It is essential to be sure about allegations’. No, I am not naive that these statements would hold well once the storm is over, but I am sure that these pseudo-feminists won’t dare issue blanket statements like media trials should be done for all accusations. I am sure at least some of them would have to bite their tongue before proclaiming media trials.

Further, the media has been loud when discussing any case of sexual harassment against all celebrities. Still, I have not seen any discussion on any of these TV channels or newspapers that discuss allegations against people who worked and shaped their own channels or newspapers, etc. The actual colours of these feminist media are out. It seems a brother code that none of these discuss the names that have been shot in defamy but belong to a rival channel. As I write this piece, I see #BadDua trending on Twitter against Vinod Dua; he is the same person who advocated stern action against Nana Patekar when allegations were levelled against him. What he does in his case is to be seen. Most media houses do not adhere to the law of the land, and there is no adherence to the Sexual Harassment at Work Place Act in some media houses. Is it not time that their licences be revoked, as that is the punishment in the act for errant companies?

India’s Prime Minister was patronizing enough when he said in his Independence Day speech that parents should control their sons. I want to ask the same Prime Minister about managing one of your ministers who was charged with the same infamous allegations. It would have done your image a lot better if he was axed by you than if he resigned. The day does not look far when you will have another task cut out for you to handle. Right now, just two to five thousand people are named in this #MeToo tirade. If this movement grows, the day is not far when you may have to handle lakhs of complaints against all levels of men. The same would depend upon how you and your government tackle this growing menace

Yet another aspect which I have found amusing is that I have often said Feminists lack real heroines, and that is why they bank so much upon anyone who hungers and raises a voice. And not to take away credit from any worthy victims, the men they are attacking are multiple times more powerful, famous and often richer than them. So, do all these so-called victims want to tell us that while they were growing in their career, they never came across a lech who did not make it to the top, who is not celebrity enough, who is dead or has made bad decisions in life so as not to progress in their profession, or had once tasted success but no longer successful? Is the sexual harassment or predatory nature the preserve of the high and mighty?

This drive of #MeToo is sure to affect some people. Many bodies call off business associations with specific individuals (they have taken action selectively as they may become defunct and disabled if they take similar action on all accused). I am looking forward to a new crop of accused that have lost their vocations and earnings. It is not so different from the middle-class accused, who often lose their jobs and earnings. How would these celebrities cope with it? Or would there be a movement and corporations started by these people which would bar any lady who has levelled baseless accusations against anyone in the past? If that happens, it would be a pristine victory for men’s rights and would go a long way in establishing a quid pro quo for these women. At least one political party has objected if a particular TV program tries to cash on the publicity generated by Tanushree Dutta. That is a positive step in establishing a commission for men.

In a nutshell, I would say, undoubtedly, there should be zero tolerance for sexual harassment at all levels; at the same time, undue harassment, name shaming and media trials should also stop. American newspapers have shown that such hoop halla has diminished public sympathy against the victims. The tirade should not continue to escalate to the point when it loses relevance, and tomorrow, another Nirbhaya will happen, and people will come to the streets to defend the accused. Is the grand welcome a Rape accused Bishop got at Jallandhar a harbinger of things to come?

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