Full text: Network of Women in Media pens letter to president and PM demanding MJ Akbar's resignation

Editor’s note: Following Rituparna Chatterjee’s report —  Is India’s #MeToo moment here? Women are angry and they are naming and shaming their abusers , Firstpost will publish a series of articles collating personal accounts of those who have made allegations of harassment, along with responses from those who have been accused of such behaviour. This is an ongoing exercise and will be updated to reflect new developments. If you wish to draw our attention to instances of harassment you may have experienced or witnessed, tweet to us  @firstpost with the hashtag #MeToo. Also read —  #MeToo in India: KR Sreenivas, Gautam Adhikari respond to sexual harassment allegations Also read —  #MeToo in India: Writer Kiran Nagarkar, photographer Pablo Bartholomew named in harassment accusations Also read —  #MeToo in India: More allegations surface against male media professionals Also read —  #MeToo in India: The Wire's founder Sidharth Bhatia denies allegations of harassment *** Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) wrote a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday demanding the resignation of MJ Akbar in the wake of multiple sexual harassment charges against the junior external affairs minister. NWMI in its letter said it stands in solidarity with Priya Ramani and others who have accused the former editor of The Asian Age of sexual misconduct. Ramani was the first to call Akbar out. A__kbar has  denounced these charges  as “false and fabricated”. Here is the full text of the letter: To Hon’ble President of India, Ram Nath Kovind Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi Prime Minister’s Office, New Delhi 15.10.2018 Sub: Defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani by MoS MJ Akbar Respected Sirs, The Network of Women in Media, India, along with Foundation for Media Professionals and BrihanMumbai Union of Journalists, stands in solidarity with Priya Ramani and others who have accused former editor and current Union Minister of State MJ Akbar of sexual misconduct, and condemn what we see as a concerted effort to throttle an equal rights movement by using the threat of defamation suits to intimidate women who have gathered the courage to speak up. We express our deep dismay at the allegations of sexual harassment, including assault, levelled by several journalists against Mr Akbar who continues to hold office in the Central Government despite these allegations. The accounts pertain to his years as an editor with leading newspapers and newsmagazines in India, in interacting with women journalists. In several accounts, the journalists have stated that he continued to harass them while they were employed in various positions in the media houses that he headed. In addition to Priya Ramani, the journalists include Anju Bharti, Ghazala Wahab, Harinder S. Baweja, Kadambari M. Wade, Kanika Gahlaut, Majlie de Puy Kamp, Malini Bhupta, Prerna S. Bindra, Ruth S. David, Saba Naqvi, Shuma Raha, Shutapa Paul and Suparna Sharma. Mr Akbar has initiated legal action against Ms Ramani. We are extremely concerned that he continues to be a minister in the Union council of ministers even as he pursues whatever legal course of action he plans. You will agree this is highly unethical and improper and would cast a cloud over any investigation of his alleged misdeeds, besides undermining the independence, justice and fair play that any citizen can expect from such proceedings. A criminal defamation charge is a clear attempt to bully, intimidate and silence those who are bringing to light systemic abuse of women by men in powerful positions. It is designed to push women back into silent compliance and will silence the voices of the many who have not yet spoken up. We would like to point out that Section 499 of the IPC, which pertains to defamation, cites exceptions in case of “imputation of truth which public good requires to be made or published”. In the case of Mr Akbar, we strongly believe this holds true for a large section of women who may not otherwise find the voice to speak of sexual abuse. In recent years, women have made great strides in various professional fields. In many cases, these women are the first generation from their families to have careers and hold jobs. The Constitution guarantees women the status of equal citizens and the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2013 is designed to protect women from sexual assault, thereby creating safer work spaces for them. The past 10 days have seen an unprecedented wave of public statements by women across sectors about their experiences of sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. Many women have spoken out at great personal and professional cost. Across media, entertainment and corporate houses, those accused of sexual harassment are being asked to step down or submit to an enquiry as per law. By ignoring this defining moment, and watching silently while a government minister sues a woman who has spoken out, your government is giving a regressive message: that the fundamental right to life, safety and dignity of a sizeable section of the workforce does not matter. It’s an attempt to thwart democracy. We demand that: MJ Akbar submit to an independent investigation. The Ministry of External Affairs ask Mr Akbar to step down from office pending investigation. The case against Ms Ramani be dropped by Mr Akbar. All support be extended by the government to women in their struggle for justice. That Ms Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister for External Affairs, take workplace harassment seriously and not encourage intimidatory tactics against women who have complained. Network of Women in Media, India Foundation of Media Professionals BrihanMumbai Union of Journalists Abhinandan Sekhri, CEO, Newslandry Abhishek Choudhary Alex D’souza, Mumbai Alka Dhupkar Ammu Joseph, Bengaluru Amrita Dutta, Associate Editor, The Indian Express Amrita Madhukalya Ananya Chakraborti Angshukanta Chakraborty Ankita Anand Anna Cheriac, Bengaluru Anna MM Vetticad, Independent Journalist Annie Thomas, Chennai Anumeha Yadav, Delhi Aparna Karthikeyan, Mumbai Aradhna Wai Archana Jha Arti Jaiman, Community Broadcaster, Delhi Ashlin Mathew, News Editor, National Herald Avantika Mehta, New Delhi Chandni Doulatramani Chhavi Bhatia Chitra Ahanthem, Imphal, Manipur Chitrangda Chowdhury DVL Padma Priya, Independent Journalist Deepanjana Pal Dhamini Ratnam Dhanya Rajendran Disha Shetty Divya Rajagopal Dushyant, Chief Editor, NewsCentral24X7.com Geeta Seshu, Mumbai Gita Aravamudan, Bengaluru Gita Bakshi Heena Khandelwal Inder Jain, General Secretary, BrihanMumbai Union of Journalists Indulekha Aravind, Bengaluru Jairaj Singh Jayaditya Gupta, executive editor, ESPN India Jyoti Punwani, Mumbai Kajal Iyer, Mumbai Kalpana Sharma, Mumbai Kamayani Bali Mahabal, feminist and human rights activist, Mumbai Kavita Shanmugham, Bengaluru Kiran Manral Laxmi Murthy, Bengaluru Lakshmy Venkiteswaran, Chennai Lesley Esteves, Journalist, New Delhi MJ Pande, Mumbai Madhavi Rajadhyaksha, Mumbai Madhur Singh, India Correspondent, Bloomberg Law Mahesh Rajput, UNI, Chandigarh Maitri Porechha Malini Subramaniam, Hyderabad Manisha Pande, Delhi Megha Moorthy, Associate Managing Editor, The Asian Age Melanie P Kumar, Independent Writer, Bengaluru Minnie Vaid, documentary film maker and author Manoj Mitta, independent journalist and author, Delhi Namita Bhandare Navya P K, Independent journalist, Kerala Neelam Jeena Neeta Kolhatkar, Mumbai Neha Dara, Chandigarh Neha Dixit, Delhi Neha Thirani Bagri, independent journalist, Mumbai Nikhil Ghanekar Niloufer Venkatraman Nimmi Chauhan, Ahmedabad Padmaja Shaw, Hyderabad Prabhat Sharan, Mumbai Praveen Donthi, Delhi Priyanka Dubey Prerna Thakurdesai Prema Vishwanathan R Akhileshwari, Journalist and Academic Radhika Ramaseshan New Delhi Ragamalika Karthikeyan, Bangalore Raghu Karnad Rahul Pandita, Delhi Rajashri Dasgupta, Kolkata Raksha Kumar, independent journalist Raman Kirpal Ranjitha Gunasekaran, Chennai Ranjona Banerji, freelance journalist, Dehradun Rehmat Merchant, Bengaluru Rema Nagarajan Renu Ramanath, Kochi Revati Laul, Independent Journalist, Delhi Revathi Siva Kumar Rina Mukherjee, Pune Ritika Jain Ritupurna Chatterjee Rohini Mohan, independent journalist, Bengaluru Rosamma Thomas, Pune Roshni P Nair, The Ken SN Sinha, President, Indian Journalists Union (IJU), New Delhi Sabina Inderjit, Vice President, Indian Journalists Union and International Federation of Journalists Sahaya Teresa, Chennai Sameera Khan, Mumbai Samrat Chakrabarti Samrat Choudhury Sana Shakeel Sandhya Srinivasan, Mumbai Sandhya Ravishankar, Independent Author and Journalist, Chennai Sandhya Taksale, Pune Sanyukta Dharmadhikari Sarika Ravindran, Times of India, Mumbai Sarika Sharma Shone Satheesh Sarita Santoshini Satyen K Bordoloi, columnist and scriptwriter, Mumbai Shamik Bag, Independent Journalist, Kolkata Sharda Ugra Sharmila Joshi, Mumbai Shefali Sadhu-Banerjee, Senior Producer, features and documentaries, ABP MAJHA, Mumbai Shobhan, Mumbai Shobana Rupakumar, Chennai Smita Gupta Smita Nair Smita Ramanathan, Bengaluru Sukhwant Basra, Chandigarh Sumana Mukherjee Sumita Jaiswal, Patna Sunanda Beecha Mehta Swapna Majumdar, Independent Journalist Urvashi Sarkar Vasanthi Hariprakash, independent journalist, Bengaluru The entire text has been reproduced from the Network of Women in Media India’s website and has not been edited by Firstpost for clarity or style.