Journalist Priya Ramani, who was the first to accuse former Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar of sexual harassment, expressed vindication at the Union minister’s resignation.
In a tweet posted minutes after Akbar resigned from his post, Ramani said that she is looking forward to day when she gets justice in court.
“As women we feel vindicated by MJ Akbar’s resignation. I look forward to the day when I will also get justice in court #metoo,” read her tweet.
Ramani faces a criminal defamation case filed by Akbar, who claims that he has been “falsely accused”.
Akbar resigned from his post on Wednesday, 17 October, in the wake of a series of allegations of sexual harassment levelled by at least 16 women.
Meanwhile, Union minister Ramdas Athawale said that Akbar’s decision is right on moral grounds adding that the allegations against him should be properly probed.
“Opposition was asking him to resign on moral grounds. This is a right decision taken by him. The allegations on him should be properly investigated,” the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment was quoted as saying by ANI.
Athawale is the president of the Republican Party of India, an ally in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
In a statement issued to the media, Akbar said today that the accusations against him were false and that he would fight them in a “personal capacity”.
“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.
“I have, therefore, tendered my resignation from the office of Minister of State for External Affairs,” he said, adding that he is “deeply grateful” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for the “opportunity they gave me to serve my country”.
The government had been under pressure for his resignation, it is learnt.
As the #MeToo movement gained ground, 20 women journalists who worked with ‘The Asian Age’ newspaper came out in support of their former colleague Priya Ramani.
The journalists have urged the court to hear their testimonies against Akbar, claiming that some of them suffered sexual harassment by the minister and the others had been a witness to it.
“Ramani is not alone in her fight. We would request the honourable court hearing the defamation case to also consider the 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,” the journalists said in the joint statement undersigned by them.