Ansiba Hassan-AMMA row escalates; actor lodges second complaint against executive committee member

Actor and former joint secretary of AMMA (Malayalam Movie Artistes Association) Ansiba Hassan has filed a petition with the Knowledge Park police in Kerala’s Ernakulam district against actor and AMMA board member Tini Tom for alleged communal remarks and derogatory comments directed at her.

This was his second complaint against former colleagues on the AMMA executive committee. Earlier, the Chief Minister had petitioned the Home Minister and State Police Chief against AMMA vice-president Lakshmi Priya, accusing her of filing a fabricated case at Tripunithura women police station. The complaint also stated that the assistant station inspector, who allegedly harassed her for three hours due to a fabricated case, was also the defendant. He had already given his statement to Thrikkakara Deputy Commissioner of Police in this case.

“The latest complaint against Tini Tom is for making collective statements and individual derogatory comments against me in the WhatsApp group of the AMMA executive committee,” Ms. Hassan said. He reiterated that he did not intend to appear before the AMMA executive committee for a hearing.

“How can I expect a fair hearing from the committee to which I have filed the complaint? I am still ready for the hearing, provided that an independent commission is established for this purpose,” he added.

Last week, AMMA’s president and secretary issued a statement asking Ms Hassan to appear at the hearing with evidence of her allegations against members of the executive committee. He was asked to appear on any of the first three days of this month. The notice stated that the management committee had taken into account some of the complaints and statements received by the association, as well as what had been reported in the public domain in recent days, regarding the behavior of members and the way internal matters were handled.

In her response, Ms Hassan requested the creation of a three-member independent panel or commission for a “fair and impartial” hearing. Ramesh Pisharody suggested the names of Dhyan Sreenivasan and Maala Parvathi “or any neutral personality”. He also insisted that the entire hearing process be recorded and preserved in AMMA’s official records. He said this was necessary to ensure justice as his allegations were against the president, vice-president and an executive member of AMMA.

Last month, AMMA president Shwetha Menon had issued an order to members of the executive committee to hold an informal address and prevented them from making public comments in an effort to diffuse tensions.