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The Indian foreign minister on Sunday rejected accusations of sexual harassment against him by several women, mostly journalists, and avoided calls for his resignation as the nascent #MeToo movement in the country accelerated.
MJ Akbar, a former newspaper editor before embarking on politics, issued a two-page rejoinder in which he claimed that the allegations of sexual misconduct while he was a journalist were "without proof" .
"The allegations of misconduct against me are false and fabricated, and these false, baseless and savage allegations have irreparably damaged my reputation," Akbar said in a statement.
"The prosecution without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections, and whatever it is, now that I'm back, my lawyers will be reviewing these claims," the statement added.
Akbar, a government minister to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has just returned from a trip to Africa, then questioned some of his accusers in the rejoinder.
Journalist Ghazala Wahab wrote a long #MeToo message for The Wire's online news site earlier this week, accusing Akbar of harassment and claiming that Akbar had "sexually harassed and assaulted her".
"It's my story." My last six months as a journalist at Asian Age, the journal he published, was a hell with repeated physical progress, "she wrote.
Akbar claimed that Wahab's story was "an effort to damage my reputation".
"The only office where I worked with her was The Asian Age, and part of the editorial team then worked in a small room," he said.
"It is quite odd to believe that everything that could have happened could have happened in this small space, and that no one else in the vicinity would be aware," added Akbar.
The minister also questioned the story of journalist Priya Ramani, who was the first to publicly accuse him of inappropriate behavior.
But he still faces calls to be sacked as new allegations emerge. Earlier this week, HuffPost India shared another story of a woman who was allegedly harassed by Akbar while she was working with him while she was a teenager.
The late Indian #MeToo movement made headlines in recent days with women sharing powerful stories about the alleged harassment of several influential men, including a minister, Bollywood filmmakers, news editors and comedians.
On Friday, the production of a Bollywood blockbuster was stopped after the film's director called for harassment investigations against his director and co-starred.
Star Akshay Kumar said that he had requested the suspension of the production of "Housefull 4" as a result of charges against director Sajid Khan and actor Nana Patekar.
The accusations that Patekar behaved inappropriately on a film shoot 10 years ago triggered the #MeToo movement in India.
Three women, an actor, an assistant director and a journalist went on Twitter on Thursday to accuse Khan of sexual harassment.
The actress said that Khan had insisted that she undresses during an audition, while the reporter had claimed that the director had flashed her penis during an interview.
