Emaho Magazine’s Manik Katyal and the Elephant in the Room

Whether or not the allegations against Manik Katyal are true, we must make sure that sexual harassment is discussed.

It’s high time we addressed the elephant in the room. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/ Boycott Manik Katyal)

Internet trolls and uninformed popular culture have made feminism a dirty word.

But we’re not here to play a stupid game of battle of the sexes, or declare defensively that women are ‘better’ than men. Nobody’s ‘better’, and that was never the point.

However, we’re not going to stop addressing sexual harassment against women and oppressive power structures just because ‘it doesn’t just happen to women’ or ‘not all men are douches’ and some such tosh. The case against Manik Katyal, whether allegations are true or not, is a good reason to address the elephant in the room.

Manik Katyal is a well known photographer. He is also the founder, curator and editor-in-chief of the “iconoclastic, hip and edgy” Emaho magazine, which strives to promote and showcase the “best creative talent on offer.”

Katyal is also the man against whom numerous women have spoken up, for allegedly sexually harassing them.

Katyal’s alleged moves were smooth. All the women The Quint has spoken to had eerily similar stories to tell. As a part of the hiring process, he’d meet interns for an interview and according to these women, he wouldn’t seem very interested in the work they would be doing for him.

He was more interested in whether they were seeing anyone – or if they were up for a drink.

Once they began working with him, he switched to Facebook messenger and WhatsApp. What began as an apparently friendly interest in their lives spiralled into very creepy, very quickly. His messages to them were sexual in nature, even after the women had let him know, often politely, that they were not interested.

Things quickly went south from there, and the entries on the blog are a stern reminder that there must be a way to address sexual harassment without professional repercussions for the complainant.

Next thing I know, he sat beside me on the bed and asked me if I’d like to give him a blow job. When I refused and resumed talking about my work, he pretended to take it well. Since then, however, he started bossing me around. He barked orders and constantly reminded me that I was incompetent or not doing well enough. If I ever mentioned the prospect of money, he always said I was not producing enough.

<b>Entry on <i>iwasharassedbymanikkatyalblog</i></b>

Little did I know what he was up to, most of the times: “Hey, you free? Why don’t you come over to my place. There is beer in the fridge, and I am all alone.” It happened once, and I refused. Twice, I refused. Thrice, I refused. Fourth time, I had to make up an imaginary boyfriend to lay him off. I thought he’d diminish my name in the industry before I could even make a mark, since I thought he was very well connected to photographers, artists and musicians. So I just kept quiet and denied his advances. All this was via Facebook.

<b>Entry on <i>iwasharassedbymanikkatyalblog</i></b>

Some of these stories are as old as 2011. Why didn’t we hear of them until now? The answers to this question are not new. Women kept their head down because they were afraid of the repercussions. They didn’t know if their stories were ‘big’ enough or ‘important’ enough to make a difference.

The turning point was when Emaho set up an anti-sexual harassment cell. Then, the proverbial shit hit the fan.

The hypocrisy of it triggered an enraged response from all the women who had endured harassment from Katyal. A wordpress blog, iwasharassedbymanikkatyal, published the stories of women who had decided – enough was enough.

Katyal’s conversations with his women employees were inappropriate, and from what the women told us, completely unsolicited.

It goes without saying that women must be able to work in a place they feel comfortable and productive in, socially and professionally. It is sad that we must speak of ‘safety’ at the workplace at all.

Whether or not the allegations against Katyal are true, the good thing is that we’re finally having conversations that we need to have.

(The Quint tried reaching Manik Katyal, but he did not respond to our emails, phone calls or text messages.)