Former Union Minister MJ Akbar has been facing plenty of backlash on social media ever since he changed his name on the microblogging site by adding the prefix Chowkidar (watchman). This was after Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself changed his name to Chowkidar Narendra Modi on Twitter in a bid to dilute the Congress’ attack against him on corruption. However, Akbar stunned everyone by dropping the word Chowkidar from his name after actress Renuka Shahane and many other activists poked fun at him because of allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
Responding to Akbar’s tweet, Renuka wrote, “If you are also a watchman, then no woman will remain safe.” She ended her tweet by using hashtag #BesharmiKiHadd, which translates in English as ‘limits of shamelessness.’
Agar aap bhi chowkidaar hain toh koi mahila surakshit nahi #BesharmiKiHadd @IndiaMeToo https://t.co/CQyIBm0waL
— Renuka Shahane (@renukash) March 16, 2019
Hours later, Twitter users noticed that Akbar had dropped the word Chowkidar from his name. It was, however, not clear whether Renuka’s stinging attack had anything to do with his decision.
@mjakbar MJ akbar remover #Chaukidar from his twitter handle ?? pic.twitter.com/yCuE30TN40
— Chowkidar Chor hai | Dilawar Khan (@DilawarIT) March 18, 2019
Aek WICKET Giri ,
M J AKBAR
Had to Remove
Mai bhi CHOWKIDAR Tag
on the Nation wide Criticism
of this TAMASHA by BJP pic.twitter.com/jO8JL2LPuy— RAJESH KOCHAREKAR (@rck914) March 18, 2019
Look who is the biggest fan of MJ Akbar!! Also he is no more a Chowkidar :d pic.twitter.com/lprIjxItk6
— Shreekant Sahu (@SahuSKNT) March 18, 2019
However, on Monday morning, perhaps under pressure from his boss Modi, Akbar decided to add Chowkidar back in his name.
MJ Akbar was accused by over a dozen women journalists of sexual misconduct when the former worked as editor in different publications including The Asian Age and The Telegraph. Faced with public anger, Akbar had to resign from the union cabinet. He later filed a defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani, who was the first journalist to accuse Akbar of sexual predatory. The case is currently being heard by a court in Delhi.