The popular actor and president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), Mohanlal, and other top officials resigned from their positions on Tuesday, shaking the Malayalam film industry, which has long been known for its artistic excellence, due to intense criticism over some members facing sexual abuse allegations.
On the same day, both the Congress and the BJP increased their calls for actor-politician Mukesh, a CPI(M) MLA, to step down, citing the seriousness of the accusations against him.
In the meantime, Malayalam superstar and Union Minister Suresh Gopi received backlash from his own party, the BJP, for his perceived defence of Mukesh, who is also facing abuse allegations. Suresh Gopi also faced criticism for allegedly mistreating media personnel in his constituency, Thrissur, on Tuesday.
The resignation of Mohanlal and other office-bearers of AMMA coincides with the Kerala film industry confronting revelations from several female actors who have publicly shared their harrowing experiences following the troubling findings of the Hema Committee report, which revealed widespread mistreatment of women in the Malayalam film industry.
Numerous female actors, including a Bengali actress, have come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against prominent figures in Malayalam cinema, such as renowned director Ranjith and actors Siddique and Mukesh, in the aftermath of the Justice K Hema Committee report.
Tuesday saw the influential actors' union AMMA releasing a statement to the press, announcing that its office-bearers, including its president Mohanlal, had collectively resigned.
In his capacity as president, the veteran actor reportedly organized an online meeting of AMMA members to address the unprecedented challenge the association was facing, before deciding on the resignation of its executive panel members.
AMMA stated that the current administrative panel had resigned due to moral responsibility for the allegations.
After the Justice Hema Committee report was released, allegations of sexual assault and harassment surfaced on social, visual, and print media against some office-bearers of AMMA, including actor Siddique, who stepped down as its general secretary.
AMMA clarified that the present executive panel was resigning due to moral responsibility in light of these allegations against some office-bearers.
It was further explained that a new administrative panel would be elected within two months following a general body meeting. The outgoing panel would continue temporarily to ensure the smooth progression of the association's various ongoing programs until the next general body meeting.
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