A day after a controversy broke out over the participation of producer and actor Vijay Babu, accused of rape of a woman actor, actor and MLA K.B. Ganesh Kumar has said the accused should resign from Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) and stay away from it until his name is cleared.
He made the demand at AMMA's general body meeting. Speaking to presspersons later, Mr. Ganesh Kumar also lashed out at AMMA general secretary Edavela Babu for claiming that AMMA is a "club".
"AMMA should pay attention to the things that the survivor has been saying. She had said that some people were attempting to intimidate her. There are allegations that Edavela Babu was also seen in some foreign countries at around the same time that the accused had fled the country. All these should be addressed. When allegations were raised against actor Dileep, he had resigned from the organisation. The same thing is applicable here too. A case has been registered against Vijay Babu. Although he has got bail, he hasn't been acquitted yet," said Mr. Ganesh Kumar.
He demanded that Edavela Babu should withdraw his statement that AMMA was merely a "club", when it had been officially registered as a charity organisation.
"AMMA was registered as a charitable society with the aim of providing support for its members who are facing various financial and health difficulties in their old age. President Mohanlal and Edavela Babu should clarify whether they have changed the nature of the organisation. I am concerned whether arrangements to play cards and consume liquor, just like in other clubs, have been made at the AMMA. If it has not been declared as a club, Edavela Babu should withdraw his statement and apologise. If it has indeed become a club, I will resign from it, as I am not interested to be a part of it," he said.
Edavela Babu had claimed that AMMA was a club following persistent questions from the media on the lack of any serious action against Vijay Babu. He said that the other clubs, of which Vijay Babu was a member, had not taken any action against him.
After the allegations were raised, Vijay, who was an AMMA executive committee member, had expressed his willingness to “temporarily stay away” from the committee until his innocence was proven. AMMA later issued a press release saying that it had “accepted his request”. Within two days, three members of the AMMA’s Internal Complaints Committee resigned in protest against AMMA not demanding him to resign.
