The Kalakshetra issue saw a kind of closure after former director Leela Samson posted a “regret” notice on her Facebook page. The accused teacher was also given bail after by court.
Let us rewind to two years back. It was December 2022, Leela Samson makes a Facebook post alleging sexual harassment by a male staff on minor students. 
She continues to add comments in the same post dragging another student’s name into the mess. Soon after she deletes the post.
This deleted post was also screenshotted and shared by self-styled feminist and X activist Chinmayi Sripaada. But it does not get the required traction.
In January 2023, Chinmayi shares this again but now on X.
There is a lull again. But around end March/early April 2023, the issue explodes after students start protesting. Now our “champions of justice” enter the arena – The News Minute starts reporting on how the institution has been harbouring ‘assailants’ and ‘silencing’ victims.
The start reporting exclusives about the issue, they made explainer videos, detailed articles, published op-eds and what not – hey, this was the rare #MeToo that has finally hit a cultural institution that defied uprooting of its Hindu roots.
They even published exclusive interviews (under the garb of anonymity) of “victims” – they went full throttle in their attempt to ‘help’ Kalakshetra take shape as another JNU.
The News Minute’s Coverage Of Kalakshetra Controversy
The News Minute’s coverage of the Kalakshetra sexual harassment allegations exhibits a pattern of selective reporting and amplification of unverified claims, contributing to a biased narrative. The outlet prominently featured Leela Samson’s December 2022 Facebook post accusing a faculty member, Hari Padman, of misconduct and gave significant weight to her statements,
Articles like “Kalakshetra row: Probe finds teacher Hari Padman guilty of misconduct” emphasized the inquiry committee’s findings against Padman without equally highlighting the lack of conclusive evidence or the ongoing legal proceedings, potentially prejudicing public perception. Additionally, The News Minute’s reports, such as “Casteism, colourism, body shaming: How Kalakshetra’s culture lets harassment thrive,” framed the institution’s culture broadly as toxic, relying heavily on anonymous sources and allegations without sufficient counterbalancing perspectives from the accused or the institution’s administration.
Let’s take one example – the “Let Me Explain” video by Anna Issac. In the video, Issac claimed that over 100 testimonies were gathered by an NGO named Care Spaces, which pointed to a systemic problem in the institution. However, when one just did as much as a Google search, one would question the neutrality of Care Spaces, noting that it is allegedly run by Janani Ramesh — a close associate of Kalakshetra dancer Indhu Nideesh, who, along with two other teachers (Nirmala and Nandini Nagarajan), was accused of orchestrating a smear campaign against Hari Padman due to internal professional rivalries.
From what was understood after speaking to the affected parties, alumni, then-current students, it became clear that many of TNM’s claims were biased and laden with vested interests. For example, TNM, in one of its reports wrote, “Kalakshetra’s geography isolates it from the city, and most students doing their fine arts courses live on campus.” suggesting that Kalakshetra was physically isolated and students were left vulnerable — in fact, the institution is located in Thiruvanmiyur, one of Chennai’s prime localities. Additionally, TNM reported that students were unable to speak at a January auditorium meeting because the alleged abuser was present. In reality, as exposed by an alumnus, this meeting was a routine POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) conference led by a neutral lawyer, BS Ajeetha. Witnesses said the disruptions came not from faculty protecting abusers, but from rival teachers misusing the space to shame colleagues.
@thenewsminute
let me explain why you're a fake news portal. pic.twitter.com/j3FZViKB78— Believe in Karma (@karmayogi_06) April 9, 2023
Moreover, the internal committee — which even included left-leaning members — found no merit in the harassment allegations, as there were no formal complaints filed at the time.
The institution issued a gag order to prevent the spread of unverified rumors, but TNM misrepresented this legal safeguard as a draconian attempt to silence victims. With such twists and turns that TNM gave to the issue, it became clearer by the day and their reportage that the agenda was to vilify an institution rooted in the Indic guru-sishya tradition, a model long targeted by activist-artists like TM Krishna and Chinmayi.
The Other Side Of The Story
While TNM amplified only one side of the story, getting testimonials from former students who were repeat offenders – late for classes, leaving the premises when not allowed (during the course), for all the claims that they make about being “independent” media reporting every single piece of information about an issue, they did not bother to talk to other alumni or colleagues about the charges.
It was revealed that the allegations of sexual harassment against teacher Hari Padman were largely baseless or exaggerated, rooted instead in professional rivalry from fellow teachers Nirmala Nagarajan, Nandini Nagarajan, and Indhu Nideesh.
Around 15 female students were investigated by police from the Adyar All Women Police Station but most of the students did not make any accusations of sexual harassment against Hari Padman or the institution. Each student was reportedly investigated in person or at their homes. A few students reportedly told the police that they had nothing to do with the complaint and said that they did not make any sexual harassment charges against Hari Padman.
On March 19, 2023, the ICC cleared Hari Padman of any wrongdoing. The National Commission for Women also found no evidence to support the allegations.
A 12-year Kalakshetra veteran and other anonymous sources asserted that these teachers instigated protests and leaked information to media and activists, bypassing internal committees.
Complaints to the Ministry of Culture and NCW accused them of manipulating students and weaponizing routine discipline.
Check these screenshots also! #Kalakshetra pic.twitter.com/wIIXRI1zQi
— Rajavel Nagarajan (@iamradioguru) March 29, 2023
The News Minute which had gone on a tirade against Kalakshetra Foundation, Hari Padman and others went silent and did not even reported about some of these developments – be it the police failing to file chargesheet against Hari Padman, or students reporting no sexual harassment allegations against him, or Leela Samson wrongly accusing a girl of being a “mistress”.
Amid all this, The Commune continued amplifying the voices that was getting lost in the noise. And despite media narratives led by platforms like The News Minute and NGOs like CARESpaces, internal inquiries found no evidence of misconduct. While any genuine abuse must be investigated thoroughly, it is the duty of a news portal to report on all aspects of the case, rather than peddling a specific propaganda.
TNM’s Radio Silence On Leela Samson’s Regret
While TNM was reporting on how the “sexual harassment accused” Hari Padman was released on bail and other updates regarding the case, they have not even carried one report on Leela Samson’s regret for wrongly accusing and derogating a student as “mistress”. An FIR was registered against Leela Samson after the dance intern at the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts (“RDCFA”).
When the complainant asked for the reason, she was informed that Samson claimed “mistress” meant “ejamaani” (in Tamil ejamaani means a feudal landlady) in the context of the intern giving tuitions to Haripadman’s son. As Samson had already removed her post, the police found her explanation “satisfactory” and decided to close the case. The context, tone and tenor of Leela Samson’s post gives away that she had used the word “mistress” with a sexual connotation.
But TNM never reported this angle. In fact, they did not even bother to look into the aspect that Leela Samson wrongly dragged a student’s name into the matter by calling her a “mistress” and linking her with the man accused of sexual harassment.
All this only proves one thing – truth was never the priority, agenda and propaganda was. If allies slander and it does not fit in your narrative, just push it under the carpet, because the victim’s life is not worth fighting for, nor worth spending the time and energy.
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