यौनशोषण के आरोप में घिरे केंद्रीय विदेश राज्यमंत्री एम.जे.अकबर ने पद से इस्तीफा दे दिया है। बता दें कि अकबर पर 20 महिलाओं ने अनुचित व्यवहार/यौन शोषण का आरोप लगाया था। इसे पहले रविवार को विदेश दौरे से लौटने के बाद एम. जे. अकबर ने दलीलें देते हुए अपने ऊपर लगे आरोपों को बेबुनियाद बताया था।
प्रिया रमानी का सबसे पहला आरोप
एम. जे. अकबर पर आरोपों के लिस्ट में सबसे पहला आरोप प्रिया रमानी ने लगाया था। प्रिया के बाद आरोप लगाने वाली पत्रकारों में फोर्स पत्रिका की कार्यकारी संपादक गजाला वहाब, अमेरिकी पत्रकार मजली डे पय कैंप और इंग्लैंड की पत्रकार रूथ डेविड शामिल हैं।
अकबर का कैरियर
एम. जे. अकबर 1989 में राजनीति में आने से पहले मीडिया में एक बड़े हस्ती के रूप में जाने जाते थे। अकबर दैनिक अखबार ‘द टेलीग्राफ’ और पत्रिका ‘संडे’ के संस्थापक संपादक रह चुके हैं। राजनीति की शुरुआत कांग्रेस पार्टी से की उसके बाद साल 2014 में भाजपा में शामिल हो गए । वहीं मध्य प्रदेश से राज्यसभा सदस्य अकबर जुलाई 2016 से विदेश राज्य मंत्री के पद पर कार्यरत थे।
अकबर का स्टेटमेंट
वहीं अकबर ने इस्तीफे के बाद कहा कि, ‘मैं आरोपों से निजी तौर पर लड़ता रहूंगा। न्याय के लिए व्यक्तिगत लड़ता रहूंगा। इस्तीफा देना उचित समझा इसलिए इस्तीफा दिया।’ गौरतलब है कि #metoo कैम्पेन के तहत उनपर आरोप लगने शुरू हो गए थे।
वरिष्ठ पत्रकार और विदेश राज्य मंत्री एमजे अकबर ने पत्रकार प्रिया रमानी के खिलाफ क्रिमिनल डिफमेशन केस कर दिया है। अकबर ने यह केस दिल्ली के पटियाला कोर्ट में किया है। प्रिया रमानी पहली महिला पत्रकार थीं जिन्होंने सबसे पहले अकबर के खिलाफ यौन उत्पीड़न की शिकायत की थी।
पत्रकार सुपर्णा शर्मा अकबर के इस्तीफा न देने के फैसले से निराश
यौन शोषण के आरोपों से घिरे विदेश राज्य मंत्री एमजे अकबर के अपने इस्तीफा से इनकार करने के बाद उनपर आरोप लगाने वाली 5 महिला पत्रकारों ने कहा कि वो अब भी अपने आरोपों पर कायम हैं। इनमें से 2 ने कहा कि अकबर के इस्तीफा नहीं देने के फैसले से वो मायूस हैं मगर उन्हें इससे कोई आश्चर्य नहीं हुआ।
द एशियन एज की रेसीडेंट एडिटर सुपर्णा शर्मा ने कहा, ‘मैं अपने साथ हुई दो घटनाओं की गवाह हूं- पहले में उन्होंने (एमजे अकबर) ने मेरी ब्रा की स्ट्रैप पकड़ी थी और दूसरे में जब वो मेरे ब्रेस्ट को लगातार घूर रहे थे। मैं इस बात की भी गवाह हूं कि उन्होंने दफ्तर में काम करने वाली अन्य सहकर्मी महिलाओं के साथ भी ऐसा कुछ ही किया। मैं अकबर के इस्तीफा नहीं देने के फैसले से निराश हूं मगर मुझे आश्चर्य नहीं है। यह एक लंबी चलने वाली लड़ाई है। इस मामले में अगला कदम कानूनी होगा।’
Why do I see people waking up and walking in #MeToo trend now? The slumber was pretty long, about 4 to 7 years?
Why didn’t they report the incidents when they were facing such atrocities? Were they dealing it as a situation in career? And not after 4-7 years? Why is it that they realized after a long time that they were raped?
No one would deny these cases as the patriarchal world is highly notorious for that. But I don’t see any recent reports! Why is that? Because they are dealing with the ups and down of the careers now? Because they think that keeping mouth shut is the only way to climb the ladder in the industry?
All of these people, who are reporting the incidents, after many years, would worsen the situation for few more people as they won’t stop if you won’t report now.
#MeToo movement has been the latest trend. In this movement, the victims express their anguish of sexual harassment, which they haven’t disclosed till yet. #MeToo spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. It followed soon after the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Tarana Burke, an American social activist and community organizer, began using the phrase “Me Too” as early as 2006, and the phrase was later popularized by American actress Alyssa Milano, on Twitter in 2017.
In India, the movement became the trend after Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexually assaulting her. After that, a lot of women speak their hearts out about the devil inside the men. Some of the well-known Indian Celebrities which have been accused are:
Alok Nath
Vinta Nanda, a veteran writer-producer of the avant-garde 1990s’ show “Tara” fame, has accused actor Alok Nath — known for his “sanskaari” on-screen image — of sexually violating her almost two decades ago.
It is the escalating voices against sexual harassment across the world as part of the #MeToo wave that gave Nanda the courage to pen down the experiences which had left her “shattered”.
“He was an alcoholic, shameless and obnoxious but he was also the television star of that decade, so not only was he forgiven for all his bad behaviour, many of the guys would also egg him on to be his worst,” Nanda wrote, adding that he even harassed the show’s lead actress who was not interested in him.
Alok Nath responded to the allegations saying, “I am neither denying nor admitting to this. It (rape) must have happened, but the culprit must be somebody else. I do not want to talk much about it because that would mean stretching the issue.”
Nana Patekar
In an interview with Zoom TV, Tanushree Dutta came out in open about her #METoo story and accused veteran Bollywood actor Nana Patekar of sexual misconduct on the sets of their 2008 movie Horn Ok Please. The actress even said that Nana Patekar has a history of assaulting women. She said that people in the industry know that the actor is rude to women and has beaten them on the sets. She said, “Everyone knows about Nana Patekar that he has always been disrespectful towards women. People in the industry know about this and that he has beaten actresses, he has molested them, his behaviour with women has always been crude but no publication has printed anything about it.
In response, Nana Patekar said, “What can I say why she is saying it? How do I know why she is saying this? What does she mean by sexual harassment? There were 50-100 people on the set with me. I’ll take legal action against her.”
Vivek Agnihotri
Tanushree Dutta in an interview with DNA claimed that not just Nana Patekar but director Vivek Agnihotri also sexually harassed her. She revealed that Vivek allegedly asked her to strip and dance earlier during the shooting of a song. Vivek also came out with stating his side, and denied that he has ever asked actress Tanushree for any improper action after she claimed that the filmmaker wanted her to remove her clothes and dance during the shooting of a song.
Vikas Bahl
Kangana Ranaut, an actress who worked with Bahl on “Queen”, his 2014 hit film touching on female empowerment, came out and said that the director would “bury his face in my neck and hold me really tight”.
Vikas was accused of sexual misconduct at a 2015 Phantom Films party in Goa. Over the weekend, it was announced that Phantom Films, co-owned by Vikas Bahl along with Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had been dissolved over allegations against Bahl.
Kailash Kher
A female journalist accused celebrated singer Kailash Kher of harassment but he says he is neither aware nor remembers the incident. The journalist said: “This creep kept his hand on my thigh.” In his defense, Kailash said: “For all those who know me and have come across me, will know how much I respect humanity, especially women, even more for the ones who work in media since their work is difficult.”
In an interview recently conducted by Zoom TV, Tanushree Dutta spoke about her #MeToo moments. She accused Nana Patekar for sexually harassing her. She garnered support from the film fraternity. She also pointed out the incident of mob-violence on the set of her film, Horn OK Please, in 2008.
Here is the video released by NewsMo – A digital news agency.
Our Take
What were the News Agencies doing in 2008? Violence of such scale without any reason went unnoticed. Is it because of the influence of the involved political party workers of MNS? Or is it because it was just a publicity stunt conspired by the film-makers to gain sympathy and improve sales? Anything could be the reason.
One thing is sure. Our media was neither free nor it is now. The terms of censorship might have changed but the situation has remained the same.