Allegations of sexual misconduct against me ‘baseless’: MJ Akbar

India’s junior foreign minister, MJ Akbar, has described multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him as “wild and baseless” and threatened to take legal action against the women who have made the accusations.

The comments by Akbar, 67, follow widespread calls on social media for his resignation as minister of state for external affairs in the Indian government, after at least 10 women came forward to accuse him of harassment.

“The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice,” said Akbar on Sunday in a one-page statement given to Reuters partner ANI in India.

The veteran editor, who founded several publications, has been accused of a range of inappropriate behaviour by female journalists who previously worked as his subordinates.

Many journalists have called for Akbar to be sacked and have threatened to boycott events he is attending until he resigns.

The government has remained silent on the issue for days, while Akbar was attending a conference in Nigeria. He returned to New Delhi on Sunday morning to find a crowd of reporters waiting outside his residence.

Akbar said he plans to fight the allegations and questioned if they were politically motivated.

“Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge,” he said.

Harinder Baweja, one of the women who has accused Akbar, criticised his response.

All the women who tried to deal with the trauma for two to three decades and were now encouraged to share their pain, had the general election in mind. How absurd https://t.co/YFoVkrX7Fi

— Harinder Baweja (@shammybaweja) October 14, 2018

#METOO in India

Akbar is one of the highest-profile figures so far to face accusations in India’s burgeoning #MeToo movement.

The movement, which began in the United States to amplify accusations of sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men in media and entertainment over a year ago, has picked up pace in India in the past few weeks after a Bollywood actress accused a colleague of inappropriate behaviour on the set of a film they were shooting in 2008.

Since then, over a dozen men from media, entertainment and the art world have been accused of offences ranging from sexual harassment to rape. Several media organisations have sacked or sent employees on leave in recent days after a string of similar allegations.

In the latest allegation to surface against Akbar, Majlie de Puy Kamp, a New York-based journalist, said Akbar molested her when she was an 18-year-old intern at his newspaper Asian Age in New Delhi in 2007.

“What he did was disgusting, he violated my boundaries, betrayed my trust,” de Puy Kamp told the news website Huffington Post India.

My story seems to be a tiny drop in a disgusting ocean — I can only hope sharing them will finally make a difference. #MeToo Thank you @Amannama & @betwasharma https://t.co/dCNYRR4vgM

— Majlie de Puy Kamp (@MajliedePuyKamp) October 12, 2018

But these are not the only accusations, complaints have appeared all over social media from men and women alike.

My account of what happened at beginning of my career.. https://t.co/8lHvPmdW33

— Saba Naqvi (@_sabanaqvi) October 10, 2018

Seething with rage this morning as I read my college mate & dear friend @RuthsDavid account of how @mjakbar harassed her when she was interning as a teenager at the Asian Age. Can’t believe she didn’t tell us this back in college. #MeTooIndia #TimesUp https://t.co/s7CHfrsU3i

— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) October 14, 2018

First allegation against MJ Akbar surfaced on 8th October. Since then, there are innumerable accounts of his predatory behaviour. It is 13th October today. He’s still a Minister. Still representing India. #BetiBachao

— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) October 13, 2018

Friends are asking me whether I’ve any personal vendetta against Akbar. None. I am horrified by what Ive read now and heard in the past. That’s all. https://t.co/cofcKEX3pn

— Ravi Shankar (@etteth) October 14, 2018

India’s main opposition Congress party has demanded Akbar’s resignation, while Maneka Gandhi, the minister for women and child development, has called for an investigation into the allegations against Akbar.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies