Ready to fight defamation, says Priya

Hours after Union Minister M J Akbar filed a criminal defamation case against Priya Ramani in a Delhi court, the woman journalist on Monday asserted that she was ready to fight allegations of defamation against her.

Posting her statement on Twitter, she also expressed her “strong protest” against Akbar's recent statement in which he dismissed the allegations against him calling them as “a political conspiracy.”

“I am deeply disappointed that a Union minister should dismiss the detailed allegations of several women as a political conspiracy,” she said.

Ramani said that by filing a case against her, Akbar has made his stand clear that he seeks to “silence” the accusations against him “through intimidation and harassment,” rather than engaging with the “serious allegations that many women have made against him.”

Akbar's statement pays no heed to the “trauma and fear” of survivors or “the courage” required to speak truth to power, she underlined

“Needless to say, I am ready to fight allegations of defamation laid against me, as truth and the absolute truth is my only defence.... The complainant women were working for him. Those who have spoken against Akbar have done so at great risk to their personal and professional lives,” Ramani said.

At this moment, it was “disingenuous” to ask why these have spoken now, she said.

“As we are well aware of the stigma and shame that sexual crimes inflict upon victims. Rather than cast aspersions on the intent and motives of these women, we must reflect on how to improve the workplace for future generations of men and women,” she added.