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Congress opposes Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to rename Allahabad to Prayagraj

OpIndia Staff
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Congress opposes Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to rename Allahabad to Prayagraj

Soon after UP CM Yogi Adityanath declared that if a consensus is reached to rename Allahabad, his government will change its name to Prayagraj, the Congress party on Sunday has come out opposing the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s decision.

According to the reports, Congress spokesperson Onkar Singh said that Allahabad had a history attached to it, which has played an important role since the days of Independence and renaming the name of the city to Prayagraj by erasing Allahabad would be an insult to the freedom movement. Onkar Singh further added that if the UP government is very much interested in changing the name, then a separate city of ‘Prayagraj’ can be carved out of Allahabad.

Singh further said, “During Gandhi-era and fight for independence, Allahabad has been a center for inspiration. In 1888, 1892 and then in 1910, Congress Mahaadhiveshans took place here, which gave shape to the freedom movement. The city gave the country its first Prime Minister. Moreover, the Allahabad University would lose its identity as it would also be named Prayagraj University.”

Ahead of the Kumbh Mela next year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday had announced that his government will rename the Allahabad district to Prayagraj after achieving the consensus. He had also said that he had got the Governor’s approval for renaming the city.

CM Yogi said, “Ganga aur Yamuna do pavitra nadi ka sangam ka sthal hone ke nate yahan sabhi prayago ka raaj hai, isiliye Allahabad ko Prayag raj bhi kehte hain (Two holy rivers, Ganga and Yamuna, join in Allahabad and hence there’s ‘raj’ of all ‘prayag’, confluence of rivers. And therefore, Allahabad is also known as Prayag Raj).”

BJP state spokesperson Manoj Mishra said the announcement has been made to respect the sentiments of lakhs and crores of people of the state. “Akbar ki Nishani Ko mita kar pauranik naam dena shreyaskar hai. (To remove the sign of Akbar and give a historical name is good).”

The Uttar Pradesh government in the past had also renamed the iconic Mughalsarai railway station to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction on Monday. The Yogi Adityanath government had made this decision to revive the legacy of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, co-founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the forerunner of the present BJP.

As #MeToo rages, it’s unfathomable how Kejriwal got away with ‘compromise kar lo’ comment to a victim who later committed suicide

Abhishek Banerjee
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She was a young AAP volunteer from Narela in Delhi. Her name was Soni. She killed herself in 2016.

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According to her family, she had been worried and tense about constant sexual harassment by one Ramesh Bhardwaj, allegedly an AAP leader.

But the matter goes far deeper because Soni had taken up the matter of sexual harassment with no less than Kejriwal himself. His response? Here it is:

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“Compromise”.

Really? Did that actually happen?

Absolutely. In fact, Aaj Tak even showed the chilling video where AAP worker Soni said that Kejriwal had asked her to ‘compromise’ (watch here from 9:55).

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Here, Soni declares that she is in so much depression that she wishes to commit suicide.

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Chilling words from Delhi CM Kejriwal: “Compromise kar lo.”

She didn’t compromise. She committed suicide instead. Possibly, the only people who ‘compromised’ were our collective of liberal journalists, thinkers and opinion makers.

This was the victim on video admitting that Delhi’s Chief Minister had told her to compromise with sexual harassment. The victim admitting on video that the constant sexual harassment and the insensitive response from AAP leadership, including Kejriwal himself, is driving her to commit suicide. And then, sadly, she went ahead and actually killed herself.

When I mentioned this incident on Twitter last evening, it seemed that few had heard of it before. Most people could not believe that such an incident had passed almost without comment in media, without any nationwide outrage. They demanded I provide links to prove my claims. They could not believe their eyes and ears when I did.

When such a sad thing happens, there is an urge to condemn anyone who makes it political and perhaps rightly so. But then, this is all political, is it not? Does anyone seriously believe that such an explosive allegation against a BJP Chief Minister would have been forgotten by the media? For what it’s worth, Prime Minister Modi is in the dock every single day for any tweet by any person that he is following on Twitter.

And here, Kejriwal waltzes in, supposedly tells a woman to “compromise” with sexual abuse. The victim goes into depression and commits suicide. The media forgets all about it.

We all know that this was only possible because Kejriwal is ‘secular.’

Of late, the #MeToo movement has ripped off the masks of a lot of people who were given to lecturing the rest of us about being progressive, liberal and modern. Behind that edgy, “woke” comedian who makes “Azaadi” look sexy is a predator who will send d*ck picks to minor girls over the internet. Behind that sour-faced anchor who poses as the voice of dissent is a monster who will corner a young intern in his car and start slobbering all over her face.

In other words, the  #MeToo movement has brought the establishment face to face with decades of its own crimes.

But what happens if the victim of sexual harassment is no longer alive? Worse, what happens when she has committed suicide? Does the crime that she suffered and the liberal moral giant who enabled it to get to go free of all blame?

Let us find out.

Mosque in Palwal, Haryana is built with LeT money, reveals NIA investigation

OpIndia Staff
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Mosque in Palwal, Haryana is built with LeT money, reveals NIA investigation

The National Investigation Agency has recently revealed that the Khulafa-e-Rashideen mosque in the Uttawar village of Palwal, Haryana has been built with funds received from terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. Reports state that the investigating agency has visited the mosque earlier this month.

According to reports, a team of NIA officials had visited the mosque in Uttawar village in Haryana on October 3. NIA had searched the documents and bank account details related to the mosque. The team had reportedly confiscated the fund registers and several financial documents in the mosque.

The mosque in the Uttawar village had come under the radar after the NIA had arrested three Individuals named Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Salim, and Sajjad Abdul Wani last month. The investigating agency had raided 3 locations in Delhi related to the 3 men and had recovered Rs 1.56 crores in cash, 43,000 in Nepali currency and several other items. NIA had revealed that the trio was linked to hawala operations and was receiving money from LeT run organization Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF).

Mohammad Salman, one of the persons arrested was reportedly an old hawala operative and is believed to have made trips to Dubai and meeting individuals linked with FIF. NIA had revealed that he has been involved in terror funding cases in Mewat area of Haryana. The third arrested person Sajjad Abdul Wani was a hawala courier from Srinagar. It is notable here that the NIA has been investigating terror funding cases in Kashmir too and has several high profile arrests in the valley including Syed Shahid Yusuf, the son of Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin. Salahuddin’s other son, Shakeel was also arrested by NIA in terror funding case in August this year.

Mohammad Salman is said to have received over Rs 70 lakhs to build the mosque from FIF. A report in the Indian Express has also quoted NIA sources stating that Salman also received money for the weddings of his daughters. While the land for the construction of the mosque was arranged by the local Muslims, the money for construction was given by Salman. During the investigation, Salman was found to be in regular touch with a Dubai based Pakistani national, who is a direct link to the deputy chief of FIF.

It is notable here that the FIF is a front organization run by Hafiz Sayeed led Lashkar-e-Taiba. FIF features in the list of terrorist organizations as per the entry 33 in the first schedule of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)with prevention and suppression of terrorism (Implementation of security council resolutions) order,2016.

In recent months, the NIA has been coming down hard on terror funding modules. In June 2017, it had raided 23 locations in Delhi, Srinagar, and Haryana. Several raids on Kashmiri separatist leaders have also been made in relation to funding being allegedly provided to stone pelters in the valley.

Fact Check: Is use of defence ground in Secunderabad for political rally ‘unprecedented’ as claimed by Congress

OpIndia Staff
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Fact Check: Is use of defence ground in Secunderabad for political rally ‘unprecedented’ as claimed by Congress

On October 14, Congress media cell in-charge and close aide of Rahul Gandhi, Randeep Singh Surjewala protested that defence ministry has granted permission to BJP’s youth wing BJYM for holding a political rally on Defence grounds in Secunderabad. In a tweet, he said this must be resisted, and BJP is “habitual offender in using Armed Forces for cheap political gains”.


Mr Surjewala wants to imply that army grounds can’t be used by civilian people and if it is done it some illegal activity.

That is a false claim. Grounds owned by the army is being used for civilian purposes for long, and there is nothing illegal about it. And no, using an army ground after obtaining necessary permission does not amount to using Armed Forces for any gain, political or not.

The most famous army ground used for non-army purpose is Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The iconic cricket stadium is built on land owned by the army, but there is no ban on holding cricket matches there because of its ownership. Army has leased the land to Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Another nearby ground in Kolkata is Brigade Parade Ground, commonly known as Maidan. This is also an army ground, and this ground is always used for political rallies, and other civilian purposes. CPM and TMC have organised numerous political rallies on this historic ground, which is maintained by army’s Eastern high command, which operates from Fort William located in the Maidan.

And the Secunderabad parade ground that Surjewala is talking about also has played host to rallies by political parties regularly, including by the Congress party. In March 2005, Sonia Gandhi had addressed a rally in this same parade ground. Again on 28 February 2009, the then Congress president had attended a massive rally on the Secunderabad Parade Grounds.

A TRS rally on Secunderabad parade ground

Responding to the tweet by Surjewala, BJYM tweeted back giving details of Congress rallies addressed by Sonia Gandhi on the same Parade Ground, and requested to ‘leave Armed Forces from being maligned by fake news factory of Congress party’.


Army owns large areas of land in every part of the country, which includes open grounds. And such grounds are regularly used for civilian purposes, including political rallies. There is not any illegally in it, as long as all necessary permissions are obtained and there is no permanent damage to the ground.

It is evident that Congress party has run out of issues to target the Modi government to target with, and they are now resorting to such juvenile accusations.

MP: Amit Shah slams ‘Diggi raja’, ‘Rahul baba’, SP and BSP for treating infiltrators as vote banks

OpIndia Staff
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MP: Amit Shah slams ‘Diggi raja’, ‘Rahul baba’, SP and BSP for treating infiltrators as vote banks

BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday urged the BJP party workers to work hard to secure victory in 200 seats in the upcoming Assembly polls. Shah was addressing a BJP booth workers’ meeting in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh.

According to the reports, Amit Shah accused Congress party of indulging in vote bank politics ahead of elections. He further attacked Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for using infiltrators as their vote banks and said his party considers the issue of illegal infiltrators as a matter of national security. He went on to say that the BJP government will expel every infiltrator from the country.

“40 Lakh infiltrators were identified & as soon as it happened, right from ‘Diggi Raja’ to ‘Rahul Baba’, all of them started making noises in Parliament. For Congress, SP & BSP infiltrators are vote banks, for BJP they are an issue of national security”, said Amit Shah.

Amit Shah speaking to the party workers said the BJP securing more than 200 seats will inspire other BJP party workers across the country. “The party can form the government with less than 200 seats, but we need to cross the 200-mark because our workers in West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are looking towards Madhya Pradesh,” Shah said to BJP party workers.

He further added said that BJP is the party of workers and even a tea seller can become the PM. Shah addressing the gathering of booth workers shared his experience of being a small worker in the party before being the national president of the party. He thanked the party workers for their sacrifices and said, “It’s their sacrifices that have brought us here today. We should score such a mammoth victory in MP and then in 2019 that we should rule from Panchayat to Parliament for the next 50 years.’’

Amit Shah slammed Kamal Nath for his inability to develop Madhya Pradesh despite being Union minister and asked party workers to knock on every household in the state and talk about the injustice they faced under the Congress rule. The BJP president challenged the Congress to declare its chief ministerial face in MP. He took a dig at the state Congress leadership by saying that elections cannot be won by “Raja, Maharaja and Udyogpati”, a reference to Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath, respectively.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the dates for the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana. The states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will go to poll on November 28 and December 7 respectively and the results will be announced on December 11, 2018.

Katyayani: Born out of anger of Gods, the sixth avatar of Maa Durga killed the demon Mahishasur

OpIndia Staff
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Katyayani: Born out of anger of Gods, the sixth avatar of Maa Durga killed the demon Mahishasur

Destroyer of evil, Maa Katyayani, she was created out of spontaneous anger of the gods which eventually led to the killing of the demon, Mahishasur. Riding a lion, depicted with four arms, Maa Katyayani is worshipped on the sixth day of Navratri.

Maa Katyayani, the destroyer of demon Mahishasur

As one of the most worshipped avatars of Maa Durga, She was born to a Rishi named Katyayan, hence the name Katyayani. When a demon named Mahishasur was creating havoc, the gods approached Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu along with Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva came together and with their combined powers manifested Maa Katyayani.

Maa Katyayani has three eyes, and rides a ferocious lion. In her four hands, she carries a lotus and a sword in left hands each and one right hand in Abhayamudra (blessing hand posture) and other in Varadamudra (posture dispensing boons) postures. A fierce battle ensued between Maa Katyayani and Mahishasur demon, who could change form into a demon and a buffalo at will. Maa Katyayani slays Mahishasur with Her sword, because of which She is also known as Mahishasurmardini. This is celebrated in many parts of India as Durga Puja.

Each day of the Navratri is devoted to one of the nine avatars of Maa Durga. The nine different forms are Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayini, Kaalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidhatri.

Congress mouthpiece National Herald pontificates on #MeToo while keeping silent on allegations against its own Editor

OpIndia Staff
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Congress mouthpiece National Herald pontificates on #MeToo while keeping silent on allegations against its own Editor

In the course of the last few days, several women have spoken up against the sexual harassment they have faced at the hands of powerful men. The #MeToo movement on social media has taken the country by a storm with many big industry names like Alok Nath, Rajat Kapoor, Varun Grover and comedians like Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba, co-founders of All India Bakchod being accused of sexual misconduct. Journalists like Prashant Jha and film director Vikas Bahl, The Wire’s co-founder and founding editor Siddharth Bhatia and their senior journalist Vinod Dua.

Another journalist who has been accused while #MeToo gripped the country was Uttam Sengupta, who is now the Executive Editor of Congress mouthpiece National Herald. National Herald is owned by the Gandhi family and is currently under ligitation for alleged scam perpetuated by the Gandhi family.

The victim has also alleged that she reported his harassment and intimidation tactics following which a “sham internal inquiry” took place at National Herald. Considering Uttam Sengupta still works at National Herald, no action was taken against him and the victim “left in disgust”. She has also asked whether Congress would now throw Uttam Sengupta out.

But National Herald seems to be brazening it out. While most people who have been accused have come out to make a statement, the National Herald has remained tight-lipped and so has their Executive Editor.

Not just have the publication or the Sengupta refused to issue a statement, they have published several articles regarding the #MeToo movement, the latest, authored by a journalist called Shuma Raha. In the article, Raha talks about how the movement has been empowering and exhilarating, but also sounds a word of caution about believing third-hand accounts. While the silence from the publication is deafening, they have gone ahead and asserted that not all accounts of harassment should be believed, would seem like a preemptive assertion to save Uttam Sengupta and some like him who might be close to the power circle.

It is interesting that Shuma Raha would write an article about the #MeToo movement on National Herald, whose Executive Editor himself is accused of sexual harassment at workplace. In fact, National Herald too is being accused of conducting a ‘sham inquiry’ and doing enough for the victim.

The author herself has made some strange comments regarding the movement on her Twitter account. She has said that the #MeToo movement shouldn’t drown the Rafale ‘revelations’.


In fact, it is even more interesting that Shuma, who has written an article pontificating about the #MeToo movement on National Herald, has been retweeting the very person who has been accused of sexual harassment.

The National Herald itself has been shameless in its conduct by publishing several reports on the wave of women coming out with the sexual harassment tales while keeping quiet on the conduct of their own senior staff. They have published several articles in this regard.

The Executive Editor of the paper who has been accused has been conveniently tweeting about the state of the government and media rights without uttering a word either defending himself or apologising for what he is accused of.


He has been making bizarre statements like the Ambanis are to be held responsible for Raghav Bahl’s black money, if any, instead of speaking up regarding the allegations against him.

Vinod Dua’s daughter says she stands by her father accused of sexual harassment, and supports #MeToo too

OpIndia Staff
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Vinod Dua’s daughter says she stands by her father accused of sexual harassment, and supports #MeToo too

Mallika Dua, who is the daughter of veteran journalist Vinod Dua and also a comedian, has come up with a statement following allegations of sexual harassment and stalking against her father. Earlier today, a former journalist had accused Vinod Dua of humiliating her and molesting her when she had just begun her career in media and journalism.

Following the allegations, many on social media questioned the silence of The Wire, a leftist propaganda website where Vinod Dua is currently working. Many also questioned silence of Mallika Dua, who has been quite vocal and active about #MeToo allegations on Twitter. Around 8 PM on Sunday, Mallika issued a statement on Twitter.


Her statement was addressed to Nishtha Jain, the lady who had accused Vinod Dua. Mallika reiterated that she supported #MeToo movement but rued the fact that Nishtha Jain had “dragged her name” in a controversy involving her father.

It should be noted that the Nishtha Jain had mentioned Mallika Dua’s name in her original Facebook post in reference to Vinod Dua hitting out against Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who had made an alleged ‘obscene’ comment against her daughter on a TV show. Ms. Jain had highlighted that aspect to show the hypocrisy of Vinod Dua.

After expressing displeasure with the victim naming her, Mallika Dua went on to abuse people who were asking her to speak up. She termed these people as ‘bhakts’ and ‘RW trolls’ and asked them to ‘f*ck off’. She reiterated that she stands by the #MeToo movement.

She ended her statement by saying that she stands by her father in this battle.

Meanwhile, Nishtha Jain appeared to have responded to this statement by Mallika Dua that addressed her. She posted the following message on her Facebook profile:

“The daughter will stand by her predator father. Wife will stand by her predator husband. Bloodlines run deeper than #MeToo.”

Nishtha Jain also posted that the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in The Wire is looking into the allegations. She said that it is a test for The Wire, and asked, “does it stand with #MeToo?”

Rahul Gandhi is wrong, HAL is part of the Rafale deal

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi is wrong, HAL is part of the Rafale deal

On October 13, Rahul Gandhi thundered in front of the head offices of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, “Rafale is your right. You have the experience to build the plane”, he told the assembled crowd, which included retired and current employees of HAL. Repeating his baseless allegations for the millionth time, he said that Modi has snatched a multi-million contract from HAL.

But is HAL really been deprived in the deal for Rafale fighter jet? We must remember that India is buying 36 jets in flyway condition from France, which means all the 36 planes will be fully made in France, and there is no question HAL or Reliance or any other company building it in India. Yes, HAL has experience of assembling fighter jet, they have assembled various planes like Su-30MKI, Mirage, Mig-21 etc. But in the current deal for 36 Rafale jets, there is no provision for assembling them India.

So what is Reliance doing? They are an offset partner. As per the Indian defence procurement policy, foreign vendors have to put back 50% of the deal value in India. This offset can be in the form of investment in India, purchase of any product or service from India, or transfer of technology to an Indian organisation.

To fulfil offset obligations, foreign companies have to form a joint venture with Indian companies, because as per current FDI policy, maximum FDI allowed in the defence sector is 49%. This means they have to find a joint venture partner who will bring the rest 51%. This means both the offset business and forming a joint venture is mandated by the government of India policy.

In the manufacturing of Rafale jet, four major French companies are involved, they are Dassault, Thales, Safran, and MBDA. Each of these four companies have offset obligations, and to fulfil them they have formed numerous joint ventures and in the process of forming alliance with more companies. The list of such JVs can be seen here and here.

Among the many companies who have got a share of the offset business, one is HAL.

Yes, contrary to what Rahul Gandhi is alleging, HAL has not been kept out of the Rafale deal. They are very much part of it.

In 2005, HAL and Snecma (now known as Safran) had formed a joint venture company Snecma HAL Aerospace Pvt. Ltd, to manufacture various parts for the French company in India. In 2015, they signed an MoU to set up a facility to manufacture several high-tech parts for the Dassault Rafale’s Snecma M88 engine. And now, Dassault has formed an alliance with this Snecma HAL as one of their offset partners. Snecma HAL will get some business as part of Dassault’s offset obligation.

It is time Rahul Gandhi should start respecting facts and stop making false allegations. HAL is a crucial part of India’s defence establishment and they should not be involved in any politics. They are already involved in dozens of projects and they should be allowed to concentrate on their job. Original tender for MMRCA was for 126 jets, India is buying only 36 now. Which means sooner or later, India will need to buy around 100 more jets for IAF alone. Requirements will arise for navy also once the aircraft carriers that are being built are completed. In those purchases, some of the planes will be definitely made in India, and for that HAL may be selected. But in the current deal, HAL can only be an offset partner and not a manufacturer of the plane. So, no injustice has been done to the company.

MJ Akbar denies the allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him, issues a detailed statement

OpIndia Staff
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MJ Akbar denies the allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him, issues a detailed statement

Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar has dismissed all the allegations of sexual misconduct against him as ‘false and fabricated’ and ‘malicious’.

Several women colleagues of MJ Akbar have come out with allegations of sexual misconduct against him when he held senior editorial positions in a number of media organisations. Akbar was on an official foreign tour when these accusations were levelled against him. He returned to India on Sunday and issued a lengthy statement.

In his statement he said, “The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad. Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action.”

Questioning the timings of the accusations Akbar said, “Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill.”

Rubbishing the accusations one by one in his statement, the Minister explained that the women who accused him continued to work as his colleagues after the alleged incidents.

“It is pertinent to remember that both Ms Ramani and Ms Wahab kept working with me even after these alleged incidents; this clearly establishes that they had no apprehension and discomfort. The reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent: as Ms Ramani has herself stated, I never did anything,” he said.

He also issued a detailed statement on Twitter where he has reiterated that the accusations against him are bizarre and fabricated. He has reiterated that most women themselves have admitted that he ‘didn’t do anything’. The two others who came up with allegations have been refuted in details.

He talks of allegations levelled by one Ghazala Wahab and said that her allegations date back 21 years when he had a tiny cubicle, working at a newspaper, where it was impossible to do anything with others not noticing. As for allegations by one Priya Ramani, he said that she started her ‘campaign’ a year ago without naming him and has also admitted that he ‘didn’t do anything’. MJ Akbar also reiterated that he will be initiating legal action against the ones who have, according to him, made false allegations.


He made no indication regarding stepping down from his position contrary to what was being reported.

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