The #MeToo movement has taken the world by storm and the storm seems to sweep the entire world before it subsides, if it has to! The storm has knocked our doors too and a #MeToo story from Jammu has surfaced recently.
Here the allegations have been made by a journalist against a Padma Shri awardee theater activist who was a bureaucrat in the Farooq Abdullah-led government in 1999.
The senior journalist has shared her ordeal on facebook.
The journalist was on her first assignment with a local newspaper in Jammu and Kashmir in 1999 and she had gone to interview this cultural activist and the meeting turned out to be her first experience of sexual harassment.
She said that she had written the transcript and the entire interview, which included sexual remarks and innuendos. The interview was published on front page along with a strong editorial note addressed to the bureaucrat.
The journalist says that the news was circulated across the state and other newspapers, which led a campaign against the bureaucrat.
“The Farooq Abdullah led government took no action against the cultural activist”
~she has said, but the bureaucrat had reportedly apologized.
The bureaucrat was later awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, for his contributions to Indian theatre.
The journalist was appreciated by a large number of followers and friends, who have also termed the theatre activist a repeated offender.
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One of the respondents has written that though the theatre activist was a serial offender and misogynist, no one openly spoke against him, and they thanked the journalist for speaking against him.
Another respondent alleged that many allegations were levelled against the bureaucrat by the female actresses, but every time he escaped any action.
“It is still astonishing why parents send their girls to the theatre activist for acting” ~says another respondent said.
In another incident, Kashmir Deputy Superintendent of Police has alleged that former ADGP has asked her for sexual favours.
DySP , who is presently posted as the DySP of the security wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police, told to television channel that when she stood against the land mafia in the state, the department not only made her the culprit, but an FIR was also registered against her.
“When I moved to higher-ups, an FIR against the land grabbers was recommended to the then Director Vigilance. But instead of performing his duties, he asked me for sexual favours to which I disagreed and left his office”, she said.
Demanding justice, DySP told online media that she believes in the Governor’s administration. She said, “I demand a CBI inquiry into this; if not the CBI, the probe should be handed over to non-state officers or agencies for fair investigation. I want the culprit to pay the price.”
