Twitter Users Find MJ Akbar’s #MeToo Defence Lame, Half-baked And Pathetic
Akbar’s defence is so weak that it wouldn’t have mattered if he wore a tin foil hat while delivering it.
After almost a dozen women journalists publicly accused Minister of State for External Affairs, MJ Akbar, of sexual harassment. Spanning over two decades, the incidents narrated point to an insidious pattern of abuse of power and predatory behaviour. The truthfulness of the allegations is bolstered by the fact that many of these are from the time when Akbar used to work at The Asian Age, which he founded in 1994 and continued to be a part of till 2008.
In his statement issued on Sunday, Akbar termed the allegations ‘false and fabricated’ and also said that he is being targeted right before the 2019 general elections, which, according to him, is proof that the accusers have an agenda.
Besides the obvious observation that over a dozen women journalists coming forward cannot possibly be a ‘conspiracy’, Twitter was quick to call out Akbar’s extremely flimsy defence based on even flimsier reasons. Users pointed out that Akbar is a Rajya Sabha member who is of little or no consequence to the BJP, so anyone who wanted to hurt the party’s prospects would go after anyone else but him. One user said Akbar had ‘delusions of grandeur’.
His argument was also proved baseless since among the prominent men in media accused of sexual harassment, most are liberal and left leaning.
Akbar’s defence is so weak that it wouldn’t have mattered if he wore a tin foil hat while delivering it.
So 14 women are giving “spiced up lies” against you Mr MJ Akbar!??? Do you have absolutely no sense of morality and responsibility ?? I’m bloody shocked that our Govt is not forcing him to resign!! Beti bachao is down the potty.. it’s BETI ko HARASS KARO, BETI ko MOLEST KARO.
— Mini Mathur (@minimathur) October 14, 2018
More than 10 women are all telling lies, Mr @mjakbar ? And it’s happening because of ELECTIONS? You shame the Indian republic https://t.co/XA5gpKcSSB
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) October 14, 2018
If a random bunch of evil female journalists wanted the BJP to lose the 2019 election, why the hell would they “target” #MJAkbar? Sounds like delusions of grandeur on the part of the former editor.#Metoo
— ranjona banerji (@ranjona) October 14, 2018
I’ve read @mjakbar statement in full.
He seems to think, b’coz there isn’t a victim crying about how his abuse left her body ravaged with a rod sticking out of her throat (tick tick tick…), he is innocent & has impunity.
It’s a different world, MJ.
Your time is up.#TimesUp— Anoo Bhuyan (@AnooBhu) October 14, 2018
I really don’t see how you can blame a political vendetta for molestation charges against #mjakbar. There are prominent liberal men named and shamed in India’s #metoo moment also https://t.co/knqUKOpZCp
— Annie Gowen (@anniegowen) October 14, 2018
Khamba
Vinod Dua
Sajid Khan
Subhash KapoorAll criticise the govt.
All named.Alok Nath
Vivek Agnihotri
Chetan Bhagat
MJ AkbarAll support the govt.
All named.How come it’s a pre-election conspiracy?#MJ using it to #gainpolitically is.
Think up something else.#MeToo
— atiya zaidi (@atiyaz) October 15, 2018
#MJ has threatened legal action but in his case there is a clear pattern: he has been called out by 12 women. All have complained that he tried to sexually harass them. Its not merely about how far he went but d fact that he misused his position n tried. Morality? Introspection?
— Harinder Baweja (@shammybaweja) October 15, 2018
MJ Akbar giving 2019 twist to sexual harassment complaints isn’t even creative. It’s laughable. Sad that Govt didn’t take a stand against someone who is being seen as a sexual predator. Imagine how world will see a Junior Foreign Minister of India with such allegations. #MeeToo
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 14, 2018
Excuse me, Aapne kaun sa election ladna hai? You fear you will lose #GeneralElection through Rajya Sabha ? ???? This is why women don’t come out. #MeToo https://t.co/KWuuoDaDEF
— vijaita singh (@vijaita) October 14, 2018
In the recent #MeToo wave, senior Journalist Priya Ramani is the first woman who publicly accused MJ Akbar of sexual harassment. On October 8, She shared on Twitter an article she had written last year for Vogue India. Titled “To the Harvey Weinsteins of the world”, it narrates how, over two decades ago, she had been invited to a hotel room for an interview where the male superior had gone on to sexually harass her. While the article originally did not name him, she named Akbar as the perpetrator in her tweet.
After Ramani spoke up, almost a dozen other women journalists recounted their tales of being harassed by MJ Akbar.