Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : After going soft on MJ Akbar for two days following accusations against him in the MeToo campaign, the Congress on Wednesday demanded an inquiry into the minister’s misconduct.
Veteran Congress leader Jaipal Reddy said at a press conference that Akbar should either offer a satisfactory explanation or resign immediately.
“MJ Akbar has his own stature as a veteran journalist in addition to being MoS for Foreign Affairs. Ms Sushma Swaraj’s silence is guilty on two counts. First, she is evading responsibility with regard to the blow delivered to women. Secondly, she is not prepared to comment on her own subordinate. I think he should either offer a satisfactory explanation or resign. How can he be in the ministry with this serious allegations against him by a responsible journalist who worked with him. We demand an inquiry into his conduct, ” said the former minister.
Akbar has been accused of sexual transgressions by at least seven women, and the pressure is mounting on the Government to take cognisance of the minister’s past conduct.
Congress was of the opinion that the time of misconduct should not matter in cases of sexual assault. Reddy argued if nominee for the post of Supreme Court judge in the US could face an inquiry for what he did in his youth, so should Akbar.
“Brett Kavanaugh has had to explain his conduct in the US for something he did as a young man. Akbar should also explain what he did much later,” Reddy said to pointed queries about accusations involving the junior external affairs minister.
Seven journalists including Saba Naqvi, Prerna Bindra and Priya Ramani have revealed their experiences with Akbar publicly since the Indian MeToo movement exploded on Twitter.
