Return of M J Akbar: From exit as MoS in Modi 1.0 to part of global outreach team

Akbar, 74, will be part of the delegation led by senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, which will be headed to Europe to brief the EU and countries including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark to reinforce New Delhi’s diplomatic outreach.

MJ Akbar during the cabinet reshuffle at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. (Express Archives)

In his recent pieces, Akbar has made scathing attacks on Islamabad over its track record of sponsoring terrorism against India, praising the success India achieved through the strikes on terror bases in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor. “To prevent the unthinkable from becoming reality you must make it thinkable. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just done so with Pakistan,” he posted on X on Friday.

In 2012, Akbar had written the book “Tinderbox: The past and future of Pakistan” on the modern history of the neighbouring country. In the book, Akbar illustrated the historical and ideological factors that led to the creation of Pakistan, in particular the Muslim League’s sense that Muslims were facing a “loss of political and military power”.

Akbar’s journalism career has spanned several decades in the course of which he headed multiple newsrooms. He was a Congress MP from 1989 to 1991 from Kishanganj in Bihar. He, however, lost the seat in the 1991 polls.

LK Advani, Vice President Hamid Ansari, NDA Chairman L K Advani, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, and author M J Akbar launch the book “Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan.” (Express Archives)

In 2014, Akbar joined the BJP, thus re-entering politics. After serving as a spokesperson for the party, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2015. He was appointed the MoS for External Affairs in the first Modi government in 2016.

During the MeToo movement, Akbar was forced to resign as a Union minister in October 2018 amid a political firestorm after his several former women colleagues levelled sexual harassment allegations against him. He denied these allegations, calling them “baseless” and “fabricated”.

President of AICC Sonia Gandhi with MJ Akbar. He was a Congress MP from 1989 to 1991 from Kishanganj in Bihar. (Express Archives)

“Since I have decided to seek justice in a court of law in my personal capacity, I deem it appropriate to step down from office and challenge false accusations levied against me, also in a personal capacity,” Akbar had said at the time. He had also said he was “deeply grateful” to PM Modi and the then External Affairs Minister, late Sushma Swaraj, for “the opportunity to serve the country”. His resignation was accepted by then President Ramnath Kovind.

Late in 2018, Akbar filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani, the first to publicly name and accuse Akbar of alleged sexual harassment. A Delhi court in 2021 acquitted Ramani, saying a woman has the right to put grievances before any platform of her choice even after decades. Akbar challenged her acquittal in the Delhi High Court, which admitted the appeal and sent a notice to Ramani.

Akbar’s political graph plummeted after his resignation as an MoS. In the immediate aftermath, he had retained his posts as a member and vice-chairman of the executive council of the then Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society – which has since been renamed as the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library. But once the society was reconstituted in 2019, he lost both these positions too.