Smriti Irani reacts to allegations against MJ Akbar, #MeToo movement

On the ongoing #MeToo movement, Smriti Irani said the women who are speaking out should get the justice.

Union Minister Smriti Irani. Photo: ANI

NEW DELHI: Reacting to the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against Union minister M J Akbar by women journalists, Textile Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday said only he would be able to make a statement in this regard. When asked about her take on allegations against Akbar, Irani said: "I will only say that the gentlemen concerned would be better positioned to speak on this issue. I appreciate that the media is accosting his female colleagues but it's for the gentlemen concerned to issue a statement." She said she cannot comment on the issue because she was not present there personally. The minister, however, held that anybody who is speaking out should in no way be shamed, victimised or mocked. On the ongoing #MeToo movement, Irani said the women who are "speaking out should get the justice". "Women don’t go to work to be harassed. They go to work to live their dreams and earn a respectable living. I am hopeful that all these ladies who are speaking out get the justice that they deserve," she told ANI. Various opposition parties including the Congress has demanded the resignation of Akbar after some women journalists accused him of sexually harassing them during his role as editor of various news outlets. As the #MeToo campaign gathered momentum in India, some women journalists have come out and accused Akbar, a former editor and now the minister of state for external affairs, of sexually harassing them during his stint as a journalist.