After media reports emerged that the Kerala government withheld portions of the recently released Hema Commission report, CPM state secretary MV Govindan on Friday said that the state had no reason to add or omit any sections.
Earlier, Manorama News reported that 11 paragraphs were allegedly omitted from the report which were not recommended by the State Information Commission (SIC).
However, Govindan emphasised that the state’s stance on the matter had been clearly communicated by the Chief Minister and other ministers earlier. "The government has no involvement in this issue. The report was handled entirely based on the directions of the State Public Information Officer (SPIO),” he said. Govindan added that if any portion is still withheld and the media reports are true, it can be accessed by anyone legally.
He also defended the state police, stating that there was no delay in filing cases against individuals in the film industry accused of abusing women. Govindan cited the 2017 actor assault case as an example of the state's prompt action and mentioned another case filed against a director following a sexual abuse complaint, highlighting similar measures taken against various figures in the Malayalam film industry.
Govindan further explained that the release of the report was initially withheld due to an order by former Information Commission chairman Vinson M Paul on October 22, 2020. Paul had noted that while the committee's report provided suggestions and remedies for the issues faced by women, it also included witness statements in between. However, this order was overruled by the Information Commission on July 7, 2024, which decided to make the report public, redacting only the portions that could affect the privacy of the individuals mentioned.
“Despite this, the publication of the report was further delayed after a producer and a prominent female actor filed pleas in the High Court,” Govindan added.
The government released only 233 pages of the report, excluding sections that could infringe on the privacy of the individuals mentioned. The omitted portions include paragraphs 97 to 107 from pages 49 to 53, as well as sections from pages 81 to 100 and pages 165 to 196. According to Manorama News, the 11 paragraphs from pages 49 to 53 were not part of the exclusions submitted by the SIC.
Incidentally, the 96th paragraph in the report spoke of the sexual abuse faced by women from well-known personalities. "On analysis of evidence placed before us, we are satisfied that women face sexual harassment even from very well-known people in the film industry, who were named before the committee. On considering the various aspects we have no reason to disbelieve what was stated before us regarding sexual harassment in the film industry," the paragraph said.
The Justice K Hema Commission was formed in response to the 2017 sexual assault case involving actor Dileep, to investigate issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in the Malayalam film industry. A censored version of the committee's findings, released on August 19, contains explosive accounts of harassment, exploitation, and mistreatment of women in the industry, triggering a political storm in Kerala.
