Women, a contradiction of progression and suppression: Shabana Azmi reacts to Hema Committee Report at IIFI

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi, who has clocked 50 years in cinema, shared her opinion on how women are treated in India, after she was quizzed about the Justice Hema Commission report at the ongoing edition of the IIFA (International Indian Film Academy Awards) in Abu Dhabi. During an interaction with the media, she spoke about the suppression of women across centuries and their current situation in a supposedly progressive society.
“You must understand that women in India have had their own journey across centuries. From 16th to 21st, they've progressed, but are also suppressed. Women have been this contradiction in India - of progression and suppression, just like India itself," she said while reacting to the Hema Commission report.

The Justice Hema Commission was formed by the Government of Kerala after Women in Cinema Collective filed a petition in response to the 2017 actor assault case. The Commission documented the challenges faced by women working in Malayalam cinema. The Committee was headed by retired Kerala High Court Judge Justice K. Hema, and also included veteran actor Sarada and retired Indian Administrative Service officer K.B. Valsala Kumari as its members.
The report has unleashed a storm in the Malayalam film industry, and has sent ripples across different film industries of India raising demands for similar action to probe the harassment and exploitation faced by female artistes from the men in power. After the Justice Hema Committee report several women have come forward and have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against well-known figures in Malayalam cinema.

In Bollywood, several celebrities, including Ananya Panday, Swara Bhasker, Guneet Monga, Ekta Kapoor, Tanushree Dutta, Lakshmi Manchu, Prithviraj Sukumara, Tovino Thomas, and Parvathy Thiruvothu, have responded to the report with Shabana being the most recent member of the Hindi film fraternity to respond to the report.