‘I refuse to be a puppet, resigned; some accused persons seized control of AMMA’: Shwetha Menon

Kochi: In a blistering attack against the inner workings of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), Shwetha Menon, who resigned as its president, announced her total resignation from the organisation on Sunday. She alleged that a pre-planned agenda was executed by some accused persons to forcefully hijack the leadership of the premier cultural body.

Her explosive remarks came shortly after the entire 17-member executive committee stepped down en masse following a chaotic Annual General Body meeting in Kochi, where members refused to approve the body's annual reports and financial statements.

"I and my committee have resigned. I have stepped away from all responsibilities of AMMA. Today, I felt exactly what some women had said about this organisation in the past. An agenda was at play to return the control of the association to accused individuals. Unless you are willing to sit there as a puppet, you cannot run this institution. I am not ready to be such a puppet," Shwetha said.
 

Coerced no-confidence votes and financial discrepancies
Detailing the hostility inside the general body, Shwetha alleged that arriving members were forcefully intercepted and made to sign a no-confidence motion against her committee without open dialogue.

She also leveled severe financial and administrative allegations against former leadership figures and current committee members.

‘Absconding treasurer’
She alleged that the association's treasurer covertly fled his responsibilities without informing the committee. This occurred after a female AMMA employee was terminated on May 1, leading to subsequent complaints being filed with both the police and the Labour Department.

’Financial mishandling under Baburaj’
While asserting that all accounts under her administration (since September 1 last year) were meticulously maintained, Shwetha explicitly flagged severe discrepancies in the previous financial records handled by a committee formerly led by actor Baburaj.

Massive relief over exiting the organisation
Expressing profound disillusionment, the actress said that her long-standing silence on internal matters was purely out of respect for the scale of the association. However, she noted that severing ties has brought her tremendous peace of mind.

"The biggest relief for me today is that I am no longer a member of AMMA," she stated, adding that she would legally and publicly name the accused persons responsible for the collapse at a later date.