MeToo Accused Anu Malik Is Back As A Judge On Indian Idol. Sona Mohapatra Is Irate And We’re Disappointed
As a girl who has been born and raised in India, or better yet, sorry ,*worse yet in Delhi, by the time you’re in your mid twenties, you are most likely to have experienced sexual harassment or assault at least once in your lifetime. I say this, because hailing from Delhi I have had my share of stories that have broken me down and shaken my faith in humanity. So naturally whenever any little action was taken or a promise was made, I was there. As I have been since the time the #MeToo movement came about last year, with a hope that things will change, and dare I say, improve. They haven’t. Turned worse actually, not that anyone is paying attention.
This is the depraved man who rubs himself, threatens, drops his pants, forces someone’s head into his crotch & then repeat replay. This is the man @SonyTV @SonyTVUSA @sonytvuk hires back for the nth time on Indian Idol as judge? https://t.co/RXCeBKX5St @IndiaMeToo #MeToo
— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) September 12, 2019
From the time actress Tanushree Dutta headlined the movement in India by publicly calling out Nana Patekar for his sexual advances on her at the sets of the movie, Horn Ok Pleasss, to from then on when women from sorts of industries came forward to speak up about their traumatic experiences, it’s been quite the journey. And with the kind of momentum and support it gained, we could almost feel that we were at the cusp of change. But of course, like always, we may have been a little too hasty and optimistic to jump to that conclusion. Because no amount of calling out, posting legit confession videos or even getting numerous accounts of assault from women has been able to stop these monsters we call men, from living their life as they desire. And Anu Malik being appointed as the judge for their upcoming season of Indian Idol, is the biggest proof for it.
Also Read : Anu Malik Has No Idea Why He Was Out Of Work. Sona Mohapatra Reminds Him It’s Because He’s A Sexual Predator
The accused singer and composer who had been removed from the panel of judges of the very same show – Indian Idol, after sexual harassment allegations had surfaced about him, seems to have made a comeback as the judge for their upcoming season. According to a source, “The makers and channel decided to reinstate Anu Malik as one of the judges as he, with his shair-o-shayari, is synonymous with Indian Idol. He has judged every season since the reality show began airing in 2004.” Which somehow is supposed to compensate the fact that the guy has been accused of molesting several women, and in a few accounts – children too.
The rehabilitation of the multiple accused @IndiaMeToo Anu Malik by @SonyTV on Indian Idol within a year as judge is a slap to ALL the good people of #India who want a better & safer future for their children, let alone women. #AnuMalik #RatReturnsToTheGutter & #SpreadingFilth 🤮 https://t.co/6VWVMWmfjE
— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) September 9, 2019
Because, for @SonyTV
the safety & dignity of women, let alone children doesn’t matter. What matters is low-brow sher-o-shayari & cheap bucks? @IndiaMeToo & the multiple allegations from multiple women & some even minors should matter. @smritiirani 🙏🏾🔴
https://t.co/FZCvBE3q2L— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) September 10, 2019
Sona Mohapatra, the unabashed singer of the industry, who has never shied away from calling people out, was as disappointed by the news as we were and took to Twitter right after the news about Anu Malik shooting with co-judges Neha Kakkar and Vishal Dadlani surfaced. She wrote, “This is the depraved man who rubs himself, threatens, drops his pants, forces someone’s head into his crotch & then repeat replay. This is the man @SonyTV @SonyTVUSA @sonytvuk hires back for the nth time on Indian Idol as judge?” She said this in one of her many tweets on the topic, all of which we agree to and support.
& since U do care about the pain of Indian women & girls,Vishal, take a real stand, stand up & walk your talk.Multiple women spoke up about Anu Malik in @IndiaMeToo & some were minors during the incident. No amount of money or fame is worth this. #MeToo https://t.co/5zb4ssaF7B https://t.co/Hr3xg5nHkq
— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) September 11, 2019
Calling out not just the man in question here, Anu Malik, but also raising questions at Vishal Dadlani, who only recently had tweeted about the government trying to turn the issue of women safety into propaganda, Sona Mohapatra went on to ask him to take a stand for the cause he so strongly tweeted about earlier. She wrote, “& since U do care about the pain of Indian women & girls,Vishal, take a real stand, stand up & walk your talk. Multiple women spoke up about Anu Malik in @IndiaMeToo & some were minors during the incident. No amount of money or fame is worth this.”
And it is this very simple realisation that the Bollywood and entertainment industry just isn’t able to wrap its head around, that no amount of social and public time-out will be punishment enough for such sexual predators, if they can make smooth and sweet comebacks into the industry, as if nothing ever happened. As informed and educated people, the least we can do is not welcome them with open arms and make a mockery out of a cause that hundreds of women are fighting for every day. But with actors like Aamir Khan agreeing to work with accused such as Subhash Kapoor or Indian Idol disgracing the show with Anu Malik, wishing for hope or change seems like a waste of effort.
After all, if this isn’t Bollywood washing its hands off of all responsibility, then what is this?
