Kalakshetra Foundation Rocked By Sexual Harassment Allegations, Key Performance Cancelled In Hyderabad

Kalakshetra was my dream, my passion, but they made me quit, recalled a former student of the arts and cultural academy in Chennai that was founded in 1936 by dancer and choreographer Rukmini Debi Arundale.

Similar stories emerged from the institution over the past few days with students, alumni, and staff reiterating that while Kalakshetra is a “haven” for learning art, it has for long ignored students’ allegations of sexual harassment by faculty members.

Four such accused dancers, who were part of the Kalakshetra contingent and were expected to play key characters in the production of Valmiki’s Ramayana during a multi-arts cultural festival in Hyderabad, were reportedly recalled to Chennai for an “ongoing inquiry on the allegations of sexual harassment”, according to a report by The Print.

One of the dancers, Assistant Professor Hari Padman from Kalakshetra Foundation’s Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts in Chennai, was booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act after scores of complaints by alumni and students.

Padman was arrested by the Chennai Police on Monday. Reports also narrated experiences of some women who named Padman as their abuser.

The inclusion of the alleged perpetrators in the earlier schedule did draw flak from people online who claimed that they were being given a platform to perform despite the allegations.

The event called ‘Ramayana Kalpavrksham’ hosted artists from different states in multiple programmes that included dance performances, workshops, and conferences and was organised by Hyderabad-based Bharatanatyam guru Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant — also an alumnus of the foundation. Her vision was to tell and retell the epic story of Ramayana, which she says has not tired the narrator, the viewer, the seer, or the doer.

The Kalakshetra contingent performs in many cultural programmes across the country and abroad as well. On the opening day of the festival in Hyderabad, the magnum opus production Choodamani Pradhanam was expected to be performed by the Foundation, which is one of Kalakshetra’s flagship productions and is a depiction of a few parts of Valmiki’s Ramayana. They are also one of the creative collaborators for the event.

However, right before the performance, organiser Dr Ananda arrived on stage to announce a change of plans.

In the last two to three days, nearly 100 women from the college lodged petitions with the Tamil Nadu Women's Commission complaining of verbal abuse and sexual harassment by at least three other male faculty members. One such survivor, who was admitted into the institute when she was 17-years-old, was allegedly sexually assaulted by a professor. She was allegedly forced into video calls with the professor as well. This was not just restricted to female students. Body shaming, verbal abuse, and mental harassment were common experiences of children too, a former student told Outlook on the condition of anonymity.

“The event was decided long ago before any of this emerged. It has got nothing to do with me. I left the institution in 1979. I requested the institution to present something and they had their own decision-making. I have no role in it,” said Dr Ananda.

A contingent performed Vitasta — the ever-flowing legacy of Kashmir instead.

Moral policing at Kalakshetra

All of it began in 2018 when the then director of the institute, Bharatnatyam dancer Leela Samson, uploaded a post on her Facebook account in which she spoke about how Kalakshetra, “a haven of the highest art and contemplation” was turning “a blind eye to how young girls are treated”. The post has since then been deleted.

“Yearly meetings are held to raise awareness of sexual harassment. But how will the students speak out that it’s their teachers who are harassing them? There is always a fear because anything can happen in Kalakshetra,” said a student who didn’t want to be named.

Some of them outrightly highlighted the power hierarchies of the student-teacher system wherein the former are manipulated into believing that “this is normal”, a student with the Students Federation of India (SFI), Tamil Nadu said.

Another former student recalled an incident wherein a couple of them planned to take a trip to Pondicherry after obtaining permission from the institute. 

“Despite filling all the forms and taking permission, we were called back by the Head of Department (HoD) and they treated us as if we committed a crime by deciding to go out of the institute,” the student said.

The student said the director zoomed into a couple of their pictures on her phone, particularly the girls in the group, and asked them, “What kind of clothes are you wearing?”. 

“She zoomed right on their chests and cleavages and showed the male teachers as well, accusing them of wearing the ‘wrong’ clothes,” the student recalled.

Another former student who dropped out of the institute owing to health issues said that the HoD would take frequent jibes at her for taking leaves during her periods. 

“I used to not be able to walk during the first two days of my period. But when I would ask for permission for a leave, they would straight up ask me to quit. They would not give me any other option,” she said.

Echoing similar sentiments regarding moral policing on campus, she elaborated on how the hostel warden would gawk at girls and make “inappropriate” comments in Tamil on their clothes.

As Nrithya Pillai, a hereditary Bharathanatyam artist, writer, speaker and dance pedagogue, writes in Scroll, this is not just an issue of idealised femininity but masculinity as well. 

“This debate highlights the relationship between young male bodies and the ‘imaginary idealised hypermasculine hero body’ that defines much of the practice of the reinvented, religious, ‘classical’ Indian dance today,” she said.

The Foundation’s response

The Kalakshetra today constituted a Committee of Inquiry led by a retired judge to investigate the sexual harassment allegations. The teacher has been suspended and the services of the repertory artists have been "dispensed with" pending inquiry, PTI reported.

"Hari Padman, Assistant Professor, has been placed under suspension with immediate effect, pending inquiry. The services of Sanjith Lal, Sai Krishnan and Sreenath, repertory artists, may be dispensed with immediate effect, pending inquiry," the Board of the institution said in a press release.

They had earlier dismissed the allegations as rumours and issued a note on its website claiming that they were aimed at maligning the institute. The Foundation had also issued a gag order against speaking about the issue. 

The students on the other hand wrote to the Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday and sought the institution’s director Revathi Ramachandran’s removal for alleged complicity and inaction in the crime. They also sought the reconstitution of the internal complaints committee.

Students tell Outlook that such harassment has been prevalent at least since 2008. 

“The institute claims to adhere to the age-old guru shishya parampara. But do the vedas mention that the guru is allowed to get physically involved with their shishya?” a former student said.

A simple internet search for the aforementioned “parampara” shows that it is the traditional residential method of education where the shishya —student— stays with his guru —teacher— as a family member and gets the education through various ways and means from his guru. Such a relationship between a guru and a student has undergone changes in the “modern” era but, in Kalakshetra, these changes have taken different forms, as per the complaints of students.

The government’s response so far

Students started protesting at the college on March 30, demanding an FIR to be filed against the accused. Following the continued protests on campus, the Kalakshetra college administration had said the ongoing exams will be postponed and that the college would remain closed till April 6.

CM Stalin assured legal action against those found guilty in the matter. He also said that a police team, including the Joint Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Chennai, visited the college campus to probe the matter.

The students have now called off the protests but it remains to be seen whether further action will be taken against the perpetrators.

“I would still encourage people to join the institute,” said one former student, remembering the lush beautiful campus situated across the coast in Chennai aloof from the rest of the city, but also added that when they needed help, they felt helpless.