A day after Mohanlal’s press meet on AMMA’s decision to reinstate Dileep, the Women in Cinema Collective put out a Facebook post expressing disappointment over the newly elected AMMA president’s statement.
“The things he (Mohanlal) said regarding reinstatement of a crime accused [sic] show where and with whom he and the AMMA stand… When you even take into consideration whether to reinstate a rape accused, you ignore the fact that the rape survivor is also a member of AMMA. It’s unfortunate that you don’t understand the fundamental problem of asking a survivor to share space with the person accused of plotting the crime,” the statement read.
Mohanlal, in his first press conference after he became the association’s president, had said that AMMA was under tremendous pressure when Dileep was arrested and was forced to take a hasty decision. “We expelled him when the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) and other unions did the same. Later we realised, in AMMA’s bylaw, there is no such point that suggests he should be expelled,” said Mohanlal. He explained that at the last meeting, several members pointed out that he was “innocent” and it was unanimously agreed to reinstate Dileep.
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On Mohanlal’s allegation that AMMA never got a written complaint from the survivor about Dileep lobbying to deny her of work opportunities, WCC stated: “When our friend (the survivor) informed Idavela Babu (general secretary of AMMA) of this issue, he called the accused on phone and asked him about it. Further, Babu called the survivor and said it was merely her misapprehension. Later, after the attack happened, Babu told her the organisation will support her unconditionally. Never was she asked for a written complaint.”
The post further stated that the three actresses who resigned from AMMA along with the survivor had announced their decision on Facebook and emailed their resignation letter to AMMA, refuting Mohanlal’s claim at the press meet that AMMA is yet to receive the resignation letter of the two members who had resigned.
“Although you (Mohanlal) said the issue of reinstatement of Dileep was there on the AMMA executive meeting agenda, we have come to know that it’s not true. In spite of everything, we have faith in the democratic values that every union is founded on. So we believe the forthcoming meeting with AMMA will have a positive outcome,” the statement concluded.