Before you read this article, I want to tell you that I have huge respect for Sonam Kapoor for her honesty, her boldness and her strong views on women related issues.
A few days back – a headline flashed on the national newspapers, television channels, and internet and shook everyone. It read –
Tanushree Dutta accuses Nana Patekar of harassing her on the set of Horn Ok Pleassss
In an interview, Tanushree Dutta recounted an incident from 10 years ago, leveling serious allegations against Nana Patekar. According to Tanushree, Patekar wanted to touch her inappropriately while filming an item song on the sets of the movie ‘Horn Ok Pleassss’.
And, this news made many of us very, very uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable because we were slaves to our perception about celebrities like Nana Patekar.
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We often decide about supporting someone by taking into account their public status. That’s what happened with Nana-Tanushree case.
Many of us dismissed Tanushree because we wanted to give Nana Patekar the benefit of the doubt because of his acting skills, his identity as a Marathi, or his work for the cause of the farmers.
We were also biased by the perception of Tanushree in her first movie – Aashiq Banaya Aapne. And, to make our decision logical we asked the question:
Why after 10 years Tanushree is raising this? How could you believe someone like Tanushree?
Some famous Bollywood actors dismissed her by making absurd statements:
Shakti Kapoor- “I was a kid 10 years back.”
Amitabh Bachchan- “Neither am I Tanushree nor Nana Patekar.”
Salman Khan- “I am not aware of this. Let me first understand what happened.”
And, the most absurd was:
Rakhi Sawant- “Were you in a coma for 10 years?”
When any women see such statements, their strength to seek justice diminishes.
But, my heart broke when Sonam Kapoor, who is famous supporting women issues, made a comment on Kangana’s accusation of Queen’s director – Vikas Bahl of sexual misconduct.
Based on what I read on Quint:
While attending the ‘Vogue We the Women’ summit in Bengaluru, Sonam spoke boldly about the #MeToo movement. But she lost me when she said:
“Kangana being Kangana Ranaut, she says a lot of stuff. Sometimes, it’s hard to take her seriously, but I love the fact that she has spunk and she says what she believes in.”
To which Kangana responded in her interview with Pinkvilla:
“What does she mean by saying, “it’s hard to believe Kangana”. When I am sharing my #MeToo story, who gives her a right to judge me? So, Sonam Kapoor has the license of trusting some women and some she won’t…What makes her so unsure of my claims…I am not known because of my dad, I have earned my place and credibility after struggling for a decade”
Sonam made her personal biases come in the way to dismiss Kangana’s sexual harassment confession.
Isn’t it the same reason why many of us dismissed Tanushree?
Isn’t it the same reason why many of us would dismiss our colleagues’ #MeToo stories?
Isn’t it the same reason why someone will dismiss our #MeToo Story too?
No one has given us the right to judge anyone – neither the accused nor the victim in #MeToo Stories. We can’t say who is right or who is wrong. We can’t pass the judgment. Its the duty of Indian Law to take that call.
#MeToo movement is the recognition of the fact that sexual harassment happens in our society – and it happens at all levels. It is not just restricted to a man sexually harassing a woman, in fact, it covers man abusing another man, woman abusing man or woman abusing woman.
The foundation of #MeToo movement is the fact that victims in our society don’t speak up because of fear of judgments or fear of being destroyed by the powerful.
So you might not be able to believe someone’s #MeToo story, the only thing that you need to do is to LISTEN.
Don’t judge but listen.
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