Hareesh Peradi Slams Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes For ‘Anti-Women’ Stance

A month after Malayali actor Hareesh Peradi announced his resignation from the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) in protest against the ‘anti-woman and misogynist attitude’ of the organisation, he has lashed out yet again in a recent social media post. He has said that any organisation that protects misogynists and people who are ‘anti-women’ cannot be called AMMA.

After actor Mala Parvathy resigned from the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the organisation for not dismissing actor-producer Vijay Babu from the executive committee, Hareesh Peradi slammed the association leadership.

Vijay Babu is accused of raping an upcoming actor. Shweta Menon and Kukku Parameswaran have also joined the protest against the association’s decision to allow Mr Babu to remain on his own in the executive committee until his innocence is confirmed.

Hareesh Peradi said there was no purpose in staying a member because the association of actors had consistently failed to act against people responsible for actions against women, and that he had submitted his resignation last month.

In his most recent Facebook post, he said that his resignation was discussed in the executive meeting two days ago and the general secretary of AMMA called him to know if he was still firm on his stance of resignation. Since Vijay Babu was not expelled yet, he said he would stand firm on his resignation.

He also said that he was a son of a freedom fighter who participated in the Quit India Movement. He said that AMMA, which means mother in Malayali, was a beautiful word and that his mother tongue did not allow him to address an organisation that has an anti-woman stance as AMMA. “Please accept my resignation as soon as possible at the Executive Meeting of the people on June 15. You and I will go our separate ways,” he wrote in the post.