As allegations of sexual harassment swirl around Chennai’s prestigious Kalakshetra Foundation, several groups of students and alumni have come to the defence of the institution famous for producing India’s finest classical dancers. They claim the “anonymous allegations” levelled against Assistant Professor Hari Padman “on social forums are false and some of them even politically motivated”.
Padman is a senior faculty member at the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts, one of the four institutions located on the sprawling 100-acre Kalakshetra campus in south Chennai.
In his first interview since the allegations went public, Hari Padman told News18 that he would make every effort to seek justice for himself.
“There are hundreds of students who are presently studying in Kalakshetra. Ask them if I ever misbehaved with them or misspoke. There are students who have been studying here for six years, I have never abused anybody. I stand by my conscience and I know they do not have a shred of evidence,” he said. “We have 55 CCTV cameras in Kalakshetra. We will pull out every available footage to prove my innocence.”
Allegations of sexual harassment at the Kalakshetra Foundation had surfaced on social media in December 2022 when Bharatanatyam dancer and former director of the institute Leela Samson said in a Facebook post that a “male member of the staff is known to be threatening and molesting” girls at the college.
In reply to the now-deleted post, a student had said she was forced to discontinue her Post Diploma course in 2019. Recent media reports have quoted her as alleging that she was forced to quit when a senior faculty member approached her inappropriately with sexual undertones. She reportedly identified Hari Padman as the faculty member and further said she had filed a complaint against him with Kalakshetra’s internal committee (IC) on February 6, 2023, four years after the alleged incident.
News18 spoke to several students and alumni of Kalakshetra about the allegations, some of who questioned why the student waited for four years to file a complaint.
“I know this girl (name withheld due to legal reasons) as she was in my batch and I spent most of my working hours with her. She is the kind of girl who will stand her ground and create a ruckus then and there if anything happened to her. She would ensure that every person on the campus knows what she went through. Why wait for four years? And she told all of us she left the course as she got a job in Canada, not because she was a victim,” said a Kalakshetra alumna, who did not wish to be identified.
“How can she lie so blatantly about an incident that is so serious unless she is being supported by a powerful force? Any girl would have confided in at least one of her classmates, right?” questioned another former student who had done her Post Diploma at the institute between the years 2015 and 2019.
A third student who currently resides on campus, too, backed the professor. “Hari Padman sir is not like other teachers. He is strict and expects the best from his students. He has always maintained strict guru-shishya parampara. There is no doubt his style of teaching can be considered slightly harsh, but that is only as long as he is teaching us the art. He says what he has to in class, never individually,” she said.
Speaking to News18, Padman agreed that he is an extremely strict teacher who loses his temper. “But to call me a predator is something I will not tolerate. I will fight for justice,” he said.
News18 also spoke to the student who is reported to have accused Padman of harassment. She recently filed a complaint with the Tamil Nadu Police where she alleged that her name was being “misused” to spread false information on social media. The student said her name was being falsely used as a complainant in a case of sexual abuse.
She said her name was unfairly dragged into controversy by Leela Samson and now she felt it necessary to support the truth about Hari Padman. She countered allegations of a sexual nature being made against the faulty member and emphasised several times during the interview with News18 that he treated “all students like family”.
“Even his wife ensures that the doors of their home are always open to all in Kalakshetra; teachers, students, everybody. His house is never empty, there is always someone at his place as they understand that we students ourselves are far from our families,” she told News18.
The complainant, however, stated that on one occasion, she attended class even though she was sick as she feared the wrath of Hari Padman. She alleged that he shamed her and insulted her in Malayalam in front of the entire class as she had missed a few sessions previously.
A classmate who witnessed what the complainant called “humiliation” by Padman said the claim was “false” and a “disgusting lie”.
“I understand Malayalam and there was a very heated argument. Nothing was said that had any sexual meaning or attribution,” she told News18 over a video call.
A fourth student from Kalakshetra News18 spoke to recalled an incident involving the complainant at the campus. “She was irregular with her attendance. Once she claimed that she was taking a friend to the hospital. Soon after, Hari Padman sir found the ‘patient’ dancing and attending class, but this girl was still missing. She has been pulled up for her lies in front of the class several times,” the student said.
Asked about the allegations of sexual assault made on an online forum anonymously after Leela Samson’s post, students said there needs to be clarity on whether the complaints are directed at one particular teacher or another.
They said there have been other cases in Kalakshetra where male teachers from the Music department were found to have been sexually abusing students. The survivors brought the issue to the notice of Kalakshetra management and the internal complaints committee (ICC).
“Investigations were conducted, the survivor provided statements to the ICC and action was taken against two musicians who were found guilty. In 2018, under the new directorship of Revathi Ramachandran, the ICC was reconstituted in Kalakshetra and action was taken when complaints were filed,” said a Kalakshetra alumna, who now teaches Bharatanatyam in the US.
“I am embarrassed with the way the issue has snowballed. If there was an iota of truth, I would support the victim. But I see nothing true in the statements made by the two girls who claimed to have called out Hari Padman sir. Even after graduating, we hold him in highest regard as our guru,” said a third alumna who studied at the institute between 2011 and 2017.
The person quoted above also spoke about the second complainant, an alumna who alleged that she was asked to perform for Kalakshetra at an external venue on Chennai’s ECR road. She said she felt unsafe with this demand allegedly made by Hari Padman.
Students News18 spoke to expressed disbelief at the possibility, saying it violated the rules of Kalakshetra as students are not allowed to perform solo. A student would never be sent alone, she would be accompanied by an orchestra and the teacher in-charge, they said.
“If the students perform to music from a CD, then the teacher will accompany the student and the theatre manager will be present. How can the lady claim she was sent alone to perform? The transport also should have been from Kalakshetra and there is no log of that as well,” one of them pointed out.
Padman said it was learnt that another repertory faculty member had a private dance recital outside Kalakshetra without informing the officials. He said he was on leave during that period and she was questioned by Kalakshetra. “When Kalakshetra asked her a question, she got irritated. She should not have broken the rule. When questioned, she directed her accusation of verbal abuse towards me since I was one of the three repertory heads,” he said.
The repertory faculty member had alleged that she was forced to quit because of harassment by Padman.
Genesis of a Controversy
The Ministry of Culture-funded Kalakshetra Foundation has been besieged by allegations after former director Leela Samson alleged that the management had “turned a blind eye” to cases of alleged sexual harassment. She pointed towards a male teacher, but didn’t name anyone.
The contentious Facebook post was shared on December 24, 2022, but was deleted within 24 hours. However, in the past week, several anonymous posts have been made on social media forums, alleging favouritism and sexual trade-offs for roles in Kalakshetra’s famous dance dramas.
Noted musician TM Krishna has written an open letter urging the management to take serious note of allegations of sexual harassment made by a faction of students at the institution.
Calling the response by the Kalakshetra Foundation “disappointing”, Krishna said: “No inquiry will be effective unless the atmosphere is caring and compassionate. When the place is so hierarchical, no one will speak freely and fearlessly. They are not in any position to challenge people above them.”
An investigating officer, however, said none of the complainants approached Kalakshetra’s management, their internal complaints committee (ICC) or police to register their grievance.
In anonymous posts, several students shared experiences of being sexually harassed in a trade-off for opportunities to be repertory dancers in Kalakshetra’s dance dramas. The accused is powerful enough to give and withdraw significant roles, students alleged.
The issue reached its peak when the National Commission of Women (NCW) wrote to Tamil Nadu DGP Sylendra Kumar, asking for a thorough investigation. However, within days, the NCW communicated to the Tamil Nadu Police that it had decided to close the Kalakshetra complaint which was taken up suo moto. The commission also stated that the women questioned in the ICC meeting did not raise any issue of sexual abuse.
“The NCW has concluded to close the matter which was raised on the grounds of media reports and the alleged victim had denied that she preferred a complaint. We received communication to this effect from the NCW,” Tamil Nadu DGP Sylendra Babu told the media.
Kalakshetra director Revathi Ramachandran also met the DGP to submit the ICC’s findings. The state police chief stated that after conducting a suo moto inquiry into the matter through its internal committee, Kalakshetra found the allegations to be “baseless”.
The Kalakshetra Foundation, in a media statement, said a detailed inquiry conducted over social media allegations of sexual harassment had revealed that there have been no cases and the allegations were unfounded.
Calling it a “scurrilous campaign” against Kalakshetra Foundation, Chairman S Ramadorai said a detailed inquiry had been conducted for over two-and-a-half months to ascertain the veracity of the online complaints. The foundation did not receive any complaints as per the guidelines of the Sexual Harassment Act.
“The relationship between the guru and shishya is sacrosanct, more so when these students have been entrusted to our care by their parents in full faith that the foundation will protect and take care of them,” he said.
News18 tried to contact the institute’s director, Revathi Ramachandran, but calls went unanswered.
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