M.J.AKBAR SHOULD BE SACKED IMMEDIATELY

As stories about misconduct of flamboyant former editor and now minister of state for external affairs M.J. Akbar unfold with every passing day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not waste a minute in sacking him. The charges against Akbar are of very serious nature and demand his immediate expulsion from the cabinet. Stripping him (from power) will not only assuage those who have been subjected to humiliation at his hands, but will also embolden others to expose several other Akbars who continue to abuse their power. In order to make India clean, people with such abnormal and unacceptable behavior should be purged immediately.

courtesy: vocfm.co.za

What is baffling the most that he has been allowed to continue even though severe charges have been leveled against him? How can a pleasure-seeking person be allowed to attend an event on Mahatma Gandhi in Lagos, Nigeria? It can’t be more humiliating than this. What if the foreign media asks him about his glad eye for young women colleagues? Not only will he make a spectacle of himself, but will also lower the dignity of the country. He should have been recalled immediately and handed the sack letter which he would have done to many young girls who refused to give in to him.

There were many who looked upon him as a mentor who would guide them to make better and responsible journalists. But none of them would have dreamt that he would turn out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The story is not over yet. I am sure that there certainly would be several more women journalists who would have suffered at his hands but are yet to muster courage to come out to speak against him.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many Akbars in the media who have abused trainee journalists. But what disturbs the most is that in many cases, the management was aware of the deeds of such perverts. But it did not do anything and instead looked the other way. Had the management taken note of the issue seriously and acted immediately, the situation would not have come to such a pass? But the management allowed itself to manage the dirty affairs of the editor and instead conspired to make the victim a fall guy.

What has happened in the past can’t be undone. But the situation demands that the media as a whole should introspect and take concrete steps so that such predators are not allowed to have free run.

With the #MeToo campaign picking up in India, one hopes the Indian media will be purged of these undesirable elements.