Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP MJ Akbar, who had to resign as Minister of State for External Affairs, has reportedly appeared on photo books distributed by the Narendra Modi government at the Pravasi Bharitya Divas event.
Akbar had to resign after he was accused of sexual harassment by over 20 women during India’s #MeToo movement. He was also accused of sexual assault by US-based editor Pallavi Gogoi.
Senior journalist Barkha Dutt tweeted a picture of the book, where Akbar’s face appears next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the current MoS external affairs VK Singh.
Hmm. So MJ Akbar returns to take pride of place – with PM and EAM @SushmaSwaraj in photo book given to all attendees at Pravasi Bharat Divas. Is #MeToo forgiven and forgotten by BJP? Not how the women in BJP and larger Sangh I've spoken to feel. So how do organisers explain this pic.twitter.com/K2se0CdhGQ
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) January 21, 2019
Dutt questioned if the BJP has forgotten the #MeToo movement, adding that the women in BJP-RSS whom she has spoken to feel otherwise.