{"id":7133,"date":"2016-03-02T00:27:10","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T18:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7133"},"modified":"2016-03-02T00:27:10","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T18:57:10","slug":"priya-ramani-defamation-case-victory-mj-akbar-metoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=7133","title":{"rendered":"What Every Woman Must Remember While Celebrating the Victory of Priya Ramani"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cT<\/span>he right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of right of dignity\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there was one line that could sum up February 17, 2021, I\u2019d argue that it would be this part of the Delhi trial court ruling<\/a> that acquitted journalist Priya Ramani in the criminal defamation lawsuit filed against her by former Union Minister MJ Akbar. This statement quantified the idea of dignity, a Constitutional right \u2013 and that it had to be articulated as an indispensable facet of female existence is an indictment of a flawed society, which views women\u2019s rights as a footnote. The ruling is a counter not only to the systemic devaluing of women\u2019s voices but also to the arm-twisting methods employed by powerful predatory men to exploit loopholes in the legal system to get away. As an Indian Express<\/em> report<\/a> pointed out, the court had effectively \u201cextended a legal shield to women speaking up against sexual harassment, even when it happened decades ago\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akbar, an influential journalist and editor who headed The Telegraph and Asian Age back in the \u201990s, was accused of sexual harassment and a range of inappropriate workplace behaviour by several women when India\u2019s #MeToo movement gathered steam in 2017. Ramani was among the 20 women journalists <\/a>who had accused Akbar, the most prominent public figure to come under the ambit of the Indian #MeToo movement \u2013 culminating into his eventual resignation. The 91-page verdict, unquestionably a landmark moment for gender rights in the country, comes after a two-year-long drawn out court battle that saw Akbar resorting to a host of intimidation tools including mustering an army of 97 lawyers to defend him. In contrast, Ramani had just one: the indefatigable Rebbecca John<\/a>. It was, as journalist Samar Halarnkar \u2013 Ramani\u2019s husband \u2013 noted in a moving 2018 Scroll essay<\/a>, \u201c… not Akbar vs Ramani, this is the Union of India vs Ramani.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the last two years is any proof, it has been made amply clear that it isn\u2019t easy being a woman who takes on a powerful predator. Even more insurmountable a task, is being a woman enduring the punishment that comes with it. Priya Ramani did both \u2013 with grace and without complaint, becoming not just the face but also the conscience of an entire movement. Her fight was essentially a stand-in for the numerous other accusations that surfaced online in the last two years and languished there. In that sense, the collective euphoria at her acquittal feels greater than the celebration itself \u2013 a mark perhaps of a precedent where due process doesn\u2019t harm victims in the name of protecting their interests. The verdict in Ramani\u2019s favour then, wasn\u2019t as much justice as it was collective catharsis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like almost every woman on the internet, I\u2019ve read and reread the verdict numerous times since last afternoon. I\u2019ve scoffed at the irony of the court invoking the Ramayana and Mahabharata in the process of delivering \u201cjustice.\u201d I have derived a sense of unexplainable joy from looking at triumphant pictures<\/a> of Ramani and John and I\u2019ve been equally awed at the solidarity of innumerable women and well-wishers who cheerleaded Ramani from close quarters and far. But more importantly, I\u2019ve found myself wondering about the nature of justice itself.

The verdict in Ramani\u2019s favour then, wasn\u2019t as much justice as it was collective catharsis.<\/blockquote>
My mind kept coming back to the first words uttered by Ramani after the verdict: \u201cMe, the victim, had to stand in court as the accused.\u201d It\u2019s a fact that Ramani won in a court of law. But it\u2019s also a fact that she faced upto two years in prison had she not. Here is another fact: Akbar wasn\u2019t prosecuted even after the court rejected the validity of his suit. Even after over a dozen women testified against him in a court of law. There\u2019s no question of him being prosecuted had he won. From that standpoint, the triumph feels overdue but also slightly farcical. The celebration is effectively an entire population being thankful that a victim of sexual harassment<\/a> wasn\u2019t convicted of criminal defamation and not instead that an accused has been held accountable. At best, the verdict is a temporary dent in Akbar\u2019s \u201cstellar reputation,\u201d given the country\u2019s historical short-term memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s perhaps why I find it imperative that we look at the Ramani verdict not just as a day of justice but also as a day that revealed the limitations of justice. One of Akbar\u2019s main arguments against the credibility of Ramani\u2019s accusations was the fact that she didn\u2019t pursue it in a court of law and instead resorted to social shaming. In response, the court\u2019s ruling observed that a woman \u201chas a right to put her grievance at any platform of her choice and even after decades\u201d, putting a rest to one of the most hotly disputed areas of publicly speaking out against sexual harassment. That is a clear indication on the part of the Indian judiciary to arrive at a future where cases of sexual harassment aren\u2019t presided on the internet according to the imperfect metrics of social shaming<\/a> but instead, deliberated in a court of law. It\u2019s imperative that we remember that. But it\u2019s also essential that we use this verdict to acknowledge just how much work is still left for the Indian legal system to be fully equipped to handle cases of sexual harassment in a way that favours victims and not the accused, irrespective of his reputation or reverence for the establishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019d be remiss if we also don\u2019t choose to remember February 17, 2021 as the day that it was made clear to an entire population that we still have to demand a language of justice that is framed in a way that supports women. The Priya Ramani verdict is both an epoch-making moment and a wake-up call.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My mind kept coming back to the first words uttered by Priya Ramani after she was acquitted in the defamation case filed by MJ Akbar. \u201cMe, the victim, had to stand in court as the accused.\u201d What we are celebrating effectively is the fact that a sexual harassment survivor wasn\u2019t convicted of defamation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":7134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Every Woman Must Remember While Celebrating the Victory of Priya Ramani<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My mind kept coming back to the first words uttered by Priya Ramani after she was acquitted in the defamation case filed by MJ Akbar. \u201cMe, the victim, had to stand in court as the accused.\u201d 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