Kochi (Keralam) [India], June 24 (ANI): Actor Shwetha Menon has come out to defend her decision to quit the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), stating that she stepped down out of self-respect and not weakness.
Menon also alleged that she had been subjected to sustained character assassination.
In a strong-worded Instagram post on Tuesday, Shwetha Menon said she would not function as anyone's "puppet" and alleged that certain vested interests were attempting to derail investigations into the alleged irregularities of previous committees.
"The reason why I resigned is that I refused to be a puppet to anyone. Despite all that, I won the election with the support of the majority of AMMA members. I can assure them that I did everything to the best of my ability. Unfortunately, certain vested interests made sure that we never got the opportunity to investigate the wrongdoings of certain previous committee members," she wrote.
Menon went on to demand a comprehensive forensic audit of AMMA's accounts covering the last two terms and claimed that a smear campaign had been launched against her by some individuals even before the association's elections.
Rejecting speculations surrounding her resignation, Menon asserted that she was neither aligned with the BJP nor the Left and maintained that her stand was independent.
"I never attended even one function organised by the BJP-led Central Government or the previous LDF-led State Governments, even though I had all the invitations. Not before I became AMMA President. Not after I became AMMA President," she wrote.
Notably, the executive committee governing the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), headed by actor Shweta Menon, resigned on June 21 amid intense internal turmoil that led to a series of controversies and even police complaints recently.
Showing support to Shwetha Menon, actor Sukumaran Mallika also announced her resignation from AMMA.
The actress shared a farewell post on her Facebook handle, writing, "Stepping down with love from AMMA. Standing with the truth, standing with Shwetha Menon." (ANI)
