MID-DAY (October 9, 2017)

Yesterday, Farhan Akhtar reacted to the Hrithik Roshan-Kangana Ranaut battle, saying people and the media should not jump to conclusions or discriminate on the basis of gender. Akhtar, who acted with Roshan in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and directed him in Lakshya (2004), wrote that he does not have the authority to decide “who is right or wrong” but believes it was necessary to comment on the situation.

He wrote a lengthy post on Facebook. “I agree that in our society, more often than not, it is the woman who suffers injustice and repression. It is horrifying but true that in some cases of rape, a section of society has blamed the victim. I have always found this to be unacceptable.

Although it is true that in most cases it is a woman that h a s been wronged, there is a difference between ‘most’ and ‘all’. However few and rare they may be, there have been cases where men have been stalked, harassed and falsely accused. It is in this spirit of objectivity and fairness that I must speak up.”

Akhtar is not happy with the way the media has dealt with the episode, only presenting one version of the story. “They’ve accepted her story at face value. Isn’t this discriminating against the other party? For a moment, let’s put aside emotion, prejudice, biases, our understandably protective instincts and look at the facts as they exist today.”

The filmmaker said while Roshan has been co-operating with the cyber crime department by submitting necessary documents, the “woman has avoided submitting personal communication devices” till date.

According to reports, Roshan received explicit emails from Ranaut’s account. Akhtar wrote, “If a woman was to receive such emails from a man and she claimed harassment, what would your immediate reaction be? Would you have given the man the benefit of doubt by believing him if he said they were in a relationship and she had hacked into his computer and sent herself the mails? Chances are you wouldn’t.”

He also urged people not to pass judgment without knowing the truth. “The reason I felt the need to say this is that it is apparent that some people have already jumped to conclusions while some are deriving some sort of voyeuristic pleasure by encouraging the woman to carry on speaking. This is being done without a seconds pause to consider the effect her words will have on the person, his family or his children. As great as all of it may be for TRP, it’s in terrible taste (sic).”