Actor Mohanlal, who recently stepped down as president of Malayalam filmdom’s top body after the Hema Committee revelations about sexual abuse in the industry, on Saturday broke his silence to say no single person or industry should be blamed.

“It’s not good to crucify one industry or one person,” the actor told a news conference on the sidelines of the launch of the Kerala Cricket League in Thiruvananthapuram.

“I see that the AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists) is being blamed for everything. It is not the AMMA that needs to answer everything.”

Mohanlal welcomed the Hema Committee report, which has opened a can of worms with cases lodged against several actors and filmmakers for alleged rape or sexual harassment.

He said people from other film industries in the country had contacted him to find out what they could do to cleanse their industries.

“I have been asking them to take similar initiatives. Let this transform into a major movement starting from Kerala,” he said.

“I personally feel that everyone deserves justice and anyone found guilty should be punished. I also believe that this is the view of everyone in the Malayalam film industry since no one has spoken against the committee report.”

But he cautioned that an entire industry should not in the process get destroyed.

“If this huge industry is destroyed, lots of people whom you might know would have to watch helplessly. There are poor people in the industry,” he said.

Mohanlal said he had been silent until now because he needed to attend to important personal issues.

“I haven’t run away anywhere. I was in Gujarat, Mumbai and Chennai for some personal work. I was in a hospital in connection with my wife’s surgery,” the actor said.

Mohanlal said the industry should survive the crisis. “This is a time when Malayalam films are receiving a lot of attention in north India and abroad. This industry should not be destroyed.”

Mohanlal said the matter should now be left to the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.

“What has happened has happened. We must make sure these things don’t happen again. It’s now before the police, the government and the judiciary.”

He denied he was part of any “power group” in the industry: “I am talking to you as an actor and not as president of the AMMA.”

Mohanlal continues to head the AMMA’s ad hoc executive body after he and all the other members of the executive committee resigned in the wake of the crisis.

Mukesh to stay

The CPM state secretariat has decided to support its MLA Mukesh, a noted actor who is among those accused of sexual abuse.

“If someone resigns on moral grounds, he cannot be reinstated on moral grounds if found innocent,” state CPM secretary M.V. Govindan told a news conference at the end of a two-day state secretariat meeting on Saturday.

Govindan cited the National Election Watch Report to underline that several other elected representatives accused in similar cases were yet to resign.

“There are 16 MPs and 135 MLAs in the country who are accused of crimes against women. Of them, 54 are from the BJP, 23 from the Congress, 17 from the Telugu Desam Party, 12 from the AAP. None of them have resigned. Two Congress MLAs slapped with rape cases in Kerala are still in the House,” he said.