Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Oct. 17: Editor-turned-politician MJ Akbar on Wednesday resigned as the Minister of State for External Affairs amid sexual harassment and molestation allegations levelled against him by more than a dozen women. He had initially refused to resign and filed a criminal defamation case against one of the complainants, claiming the allegations as false.
The move came after several journalist organisations demanded his resignation pending investigation on the matter. The Network of Women in Media in India (NWMI) had also written to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack the union minister to pave the way for an impartial probe.
Akbar, who headed many newspapers before turning to politics, said in a statement that he decided to step down and fight against the case in his 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 levelled against me, also in a personal capacity. I have, therefore, tendered my resignation from the office of Minister of State for External Affairs,” he said in a statement.
Akbar has denied sexual harassment allegations made by over a dozen women against him and threatened to sue them. He later lodged a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani, the first woman who opened up his misconduct.
Ramani said that she is ready to fight the case with “truth as her defence.”
Sexual harassment on women at workplace not new in India
The #MeToo movement may have started a year ago in the Western countries after dozens of women accused American film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct but Indian government data has revealed that hundreds of cases related to sexual harassment of women at workplace had been reported in the last few years.
According to the data tabled in the Lok Sabha on July 27, 2018 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, a total of 2,164 complaints were registered under the category of sexual harassment of women at workplace in India during the last three-and-a-half years. As per the data, 522 cases were filed in 2015, 539 in 2016, 570 in 2017, and 533 in the last seven months.
Among the Indian states and union territories, Uttar Pradesh registered most number of sexual harassment of women at workplace with 627 cases in the last three years and seven months, followed by Delhi (314), Haryana (139), Madhya Pradesh (135), and Maharashtra (126). Among the northeastern states, Assam is on top with 16 cases, two each in Sikkim and Tripura, and one in Nagaland.
It may be mentioned that the government of India passed Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, with an aim to protect women from sexual harassment in workplaces, be it public or private. It mandates any establishment with more than 10 employees to constitute Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) for looking into complaints on sexual harassment, and the government to constitute a Local Complaint Committee (LCC) for receiving complaints from organisations with less than 10 workers.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has also launched an online complaint management system called Sexual Harassment electronic–Box (SHe-Box) so that women employees in both government and private sectors can register complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace.
The official data from the government said that only one case was registered in Nagaland under sexual harassment of women at workplace in 2015 and no such cases thereafter. However, there have been instances of female staff being “groped and kissed” by an officer and colleague in Nagaland (reported by
on July 27, 2018), hinting that there could be several unaccounted incidents in the state.
Chairperson of Nagaland State Commission for Women (NSCW) Dr. Temsula Ao told
that it will take time for women in the state to open up on sexual misconducts and fight against injustice.
“People in the state are very reluctant to open up and lodge complaint related to sexual harassment at workplace because of so many factors in our society, like (society) turning against complainants, victim shaming and the way our society protects man. That is why even crime records against women in the state are inaccurate,” said Dr. Temsula.
“The atmosphere is still not conducive for women to speak on violence against them and fight for justice. Repressiveness is still there in our society,” she added.
She said that NSCW has organised several awareness campaigns on legal rights of women, human trafficking and other issues, and is working with tribal women hohos to reach out to the common people but will take time
“Every year, we (NSCW) have fortnight observation of International Day for elimination of violence against women from November 26 to December 10 to bring about a better awareness of women’s rights and make them able to fight against violence,” said Dr. Temsula.
She went on to say that no complaint related to sexual harassment of women at workplace has been put to its (NSCW) knowledge in the last few years but mentioned that there is supposed to be committees in all organisations, including educational institutions, to solve such issues by reporting it to the concerned authorities.
