On April 12, Arnaz Hathiram, founder of Voice For Men India, raised questions over ‘IndiaMeToo’ not covering allegations of sexual harassment against Pratik Sinha, co-founder of propaganda website Alt News. In a tweet, she said, “Hi IndiaMeToo. Why didn’t you post the #PratikSinha #MeToo story? Your credibility is ZERO when you decide which case is genuine or false.”
Hi @IndiaMeToo
— Arnaz Hathiram (@ArnazHathiram) April 12, 2023
Why didn’t you post #PratikSinha #MeToo story?
Your credibility is ZERO when you decide which case is genuine or false
Link in thread https://t.co/f182RouQbi
She was quoting IndiaMeToo’s tweet which claimed that many survivors of sexual misconduct who came forward during the MeToo movement in India were slapped with defamation cases and legal notices. The tweet read, “Between 2018-2020 dozens of #metoo survivors who spoke up were hit with defamation cases and legal notices. For many in India, there’s little to no access to legal resources. This created a chilling effect and survivors were eventually silenced.”
Speaking to OpIndia Arnaz said, “Being a woman myself, I won’t deny that we do have many sexual predators in our society. Justice cannot be denied to any victim ever. However, the #MeToo campaign, even if started with good intentions, ended up becoming a political tool to fix men who had a certain ideology. There were endless campaigns run with the hashtag #BelieveAllWomen, which effectively declared the word of the woman as final and true.”
Pointing out the bias the MeToo movement in India followed, she said, “Ironically, when men from another side of the political spectrum were being called out, the #MeToo movement became very selective. I clearly remember how Anurag Kashyap, despite an FIR against him, was labelled as innocent by the same champions who ran #BelieveAllWomen campaigns.”
Regarding the importance of highlighting Sinha’s case, she said, “Pratik Sinha’s case can’t be missed as well. At the outset, I have not declared PS to be guilty or innocent. But when the MeToo handle chose not to post the allegations against him, it raised serious questions about the motive behind the movement. One would recall, how back in 2018-19, any man who was called out even from an anonymous handle, was compelled to step down from work, while today PS continues his job as usual. This is not about individual cases. This is about the hypocrisy in the name of ‘Justice for Women’.”
Allegations against Pratik Sinha
In January 2023, a woman accused Sinha of sexual harassment. Sharing her ordeal from an anonymous Instagram handle ‘fightforjustworld’, she alleged that Sinha is not only highly manipulative and a ‘sex maniac’ but also used the same modus operandi that he used with her with other women to get them into a physical relationship with him. The woman also expressed fears of her allegations being dismissed by stating that after her post, she would be called an ‘RSS stooge, a BJP mole’ as she was targeting Alt News but had “been fighting against the right wing with my own means and ways”.
She mentioned having known Pratik Sinha for years and started talking to him in 2020. On the first day, Sinha asked for her number which she gave without hesitation as he was “trustworthy”. In less than two months, he expressed “more than friendship” feelings for her. She told him to wait for two years as she was busy with her academic commitments. They continued to talk.
However, in November 2020, he told her it would not be possible for him to continue the relationship or talk. Next month, he took back his remarks and pushed her to meet. In February, she stopped talking to him but he kept pursuing her. In May, he expressed a desire to continue the relationship and maintained wanting a serious relationship. In July, he asked her to meet before he shifted to Kolkata. In September, they met. After 12 days of the meeting, he told her that he was misleading her, and the assurances he gave were all part of his act.
As she warned Pratik she would go public, his female friend approached her to resolve the matter. She wrote, “He immediately sought the assistance of his friend to mediate, who in turn contacted me. She messaged & called me on the pretext of “trying to resolve the issue” but the real purpose was to dissuade me from going public, to coax me into silence, & thus “protect him”.
The “friend” told her Sinha was in multiple physical relationships with women. As per the “friend”, Pratik was a ‘sex maniac’, “someone who was desperate for sex and would go to any extent of lying to get women into his bed”. Notably, he had been avoiding her calls and messages and even blocked her.
When confronted, Sinha allegedly created a “bad relationship in the past” story. He claimed to have a psychological condition that makes him lie to get what he wants, and he was trying to approach a therapist for the same.
