One of India’s preeminent art and cultural institutions, Kalakshetra, has been embroiled in an ugly row over allegations of sexual harassment against a faculty member and three repertory artists who work as substitute teachers at the prestigious dance acad-emy.
At the centre of the controversy is a college run by Kalakshetra, the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts, famous for teaching Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form.
Last week, police arrested assistant professor and accomplished dancer Hari Padman after a former student lodged a complaint accusing him of sexual harassment.
It came after days of protests by more than 200 students of the institute, located in the city of Chennai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. They alleged that sexual harassment had been going on at the campus for years and accused the administration of ignoring their complaints.
In a short statement on its website, the Kalak-shetra Foundation – which is an autonomous institu-tion under India’s culture ministry – blamed “vested interests” for trying to “sully” its reputation.
But after the scandal made headlines, the foun-dation announced a three-member panel, led by a retired high court judge, to investigate the allegations. It also suspended Hari Padman and said the services of the three repertory artists had been “dispensed with pending inquiry”.
“As the inquiry is in progress, it will be inap-propriate to make any comment on the incidents mentioned in your mail,” it told the BBC in an email.
The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women has also launched an inquiry into the allegations. Before his arrest, Hari Padman had denied the alle-gations against him in meetings with college au-thorities. He also told a TV channel that he would make every effort to seek justice.
“There are hundreds of students studying in Kalakshetra. Ask them if I ever misbehaved with them or misspoke. I have never abused anybody. I stand by my conscience and I know they do not have a shred of evidence,” he told News18, adding that he would rely on CCTV footage to prove his innocence.
His wife has also defended him and lodged a counter-complaint against the complainant and two of Kalakshetra’s teachers, accusing them of levelling false charges against her husband out of “jealousy and professional rivalry”.
Divya Hari Padman said the charges against her husband were “an act of revenge” because he had “chided” some students for bad behaviour and that the two teachers had “instigated” the former student to lodge the complaint.
Kalakshetra is often described as “the IIT of fine arts” – drawing a comparison with India’s premier technology institutes that are extremely tough to get into. Students who earn an engineering degree from there are sought after globally.—Agencies
