NEW DELHI: MJ Akbar on Wednesday resigned from his post as the minister of state for external affairs after being accused of sexual harassment, reports ANI.
In the statement announcing his resignation, Akbar said, “Since I have decided to seek justice in a court of law in my personal capacity, I deem it appropriate to step down from office and challenge false accusations levied against me, also in a personal capacity,” he said in a statement. “I have, therefore, tendered my resignation from the office of Minister of State for External Affairs. I am deeply grateful to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for the opportunity they gave me to serve my country.”
#MJAkbar resigns from his post of Minister of State External Affairs MEA. pic.twitter.com/dxf4EtFl5P
— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2018
The former journalist has been in the #MeToo storm for quite a few days after being accused of sexually harassing at least 15 women.
[also_read url=”https://www.siasat.com/news/metoo-20-women-journalists-ready-testify-against-mj-akbar-1421352/”]#MeToo: 20 women journalists ready to testify against MJ Akbar[/also_read]
Akbar’s resignation comes a day after 20 women journalists came out in support of Priya Ramani against whom the Union Minister had filed a defamation plea.
The women had said in their statement:
When Ms Ramani spoke out against him in public, she spoke not only about her personal experience but also lifted the lid on the culture of casual misogyny, entitlement and sexual predation that Mr Akbar engendered and presided over at The Asian Age.
Ms Ramani is not alone in her fight. We would request the honourable court hearing the defamation case to also consider testimonies of sexual harassment of some of us at the hands of the petitioner, as also of the other signatories who bore witness to this harassment.