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#MeToo Reaches Central Govt; Veteran Scribe & MP MJ Akbar Under Scanner For Sexual Harassment

As the #MeToo movement is gaining the much-needed momentum in India, several big-wigs from the field of media are already facing the music. Now, the movement has reached the Central government as well, with at least six women making allegations of sexual harassment against veteran journalist and Minister of State for External Affairs, MJ Akbar. Reportedly, Mr Akbar is abroad with a trade delegation and has not made any comment over these allegations.


The first allegation on record back in Oct 2017

In October 2017, senior journalist Priya Ramani wrote an open letter to “Dear Male Boss” which was published in the Vogue magazine. On October 8, 2018, she tweeted, “I began this piece with my MJ Akbar story. Never named him because he didn’t “do” anything. Lots of women have worse stories about this predator-maybe they’ll share.”

Soon, other women journalists came forward.

All these accounts paint a picture of a man, who is brilliant, erudite, the venerated editor who used his position and charm to prey on young, talented and ambitious women.
According to a report, Suparna Sharma, Resident Editor of The Asian Age, said “He pursued almost all women in the same way – meetings in hotels, dangling plum assignments at them, sending them out of town and then arranging to meet them in a hotel, or insisting that they take a car ride with him. He mostly preyed on young women who lived alone, loved their jobs and were bright and ambitious.”
As he is now part of the External Affairs ministry, questions were directed at the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj regarding the allegation against MJ Akbar. Swaraj chose not to answer the question and walked away, which can be seen in the video below. Reportedly, the ministry is going with a stance that these allegations are from a time before he became a minister.

Smita Sharma who asked the pointed question is a Journalist-Deputy Editor at The Tribune.


Who is MJ Akbar?

Akbar is widely hailed among the “typewriter guerillas” of the 1970s-80s and celebrated as a star editor/journalist. The Founding Editor at The Telegraph, Akbar has been at the helm of The Asian Age and The Sunday Guardian as well.
He is a renowned author of several non-fiction books. Akbar’s first stint with politics was in 1989 when he won a Lok Sabha seat from Kishanganj, Bihar on a Congress ticket. In 2014, he joined BJP and became the national spokesperson during the 2014 elections. In July 2015, he became a Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand. In 2016, he was appointed as the Minister of State for External Affairs. He is married with two children.
Source: The Logical Indian
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