Shiv Sena demands sacking of Akbar over #MeToo charges
Mumbai, Oct 11: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Shiv Sena Thursday demanded the removal of Union minister M J Akbar, who has been accused by several women journalists of sexually harassment.
The saffron party also said the charges against Akbar needed to be investigated thoroughly.
"As far as I know, there are five to six women professionals who have openly narrated how they were sexually attacked by M J Akbar. The details are worrisome and serious. Hence, I demand that he should be removed from his post immediately," Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi frequently talks about 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao'. Hence, in order to maintain his own image, Modi should remove Akbar from his post," she added.
"Let there be a proper investigation into the accusations against him. If Akbar comes out clean, he can be reinstated in the cabinet," the Sena MLC said.
The legislator also took a dig at the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, saying it was not doing its job properly.
"The chairperson of the commission has been a long-standing member of the BJP. She (Vijaya Rahatkar) only issues notices and selectively gives clean chits. She is certainly not using her judicial powers," Kayande said.
As the #MeToo campaign gathered momentum in India, several women journalists have come out and accused Akbar, a former newspaper editor and now the Union minister of state for external affairs, of sexually harassing them during his stint as a journalist.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
