Attacking Kejriwal: Violence Cannot Be Condoned
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-04-01 06:53:20
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The India Commentary view
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In a vulgar display of muscle power, a mob of more than 200 people led by BJP MP and national president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Tejasvi Surya, reached the home of Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and indulged in violence. After breaking through the barricades they banged and kicked on the gate and threw colour on it. They also damaged a CCTV camera and clambered on top of a police vehicle. In short, they did not behave like political party workers but as lumpen elements. That they were led by a party MP made the matter worse.
The reason for their undemocratic behavior was the statement issued by Kejriwal in the Delhi assembly earlier in the day in respect of demands for making the film The Kashmir Files tax-free in Delhi. With the AAP slowly emerging as a premier opposition force, along with the TMC, it is now clear that the BJP has directed a major part of its energies in targeting these two parties. AAP's phenomenal success in the recent Punjab elections and the speculation in the media that the 2029 general elections might well boil down to a contest between Yogi Adityanath and Kejriwal have made Kejriwal the prime target of BJP's ire. AAP and Kejriwal are also being targeted for severely criticizing the Centre's move to unify the three Delhi corporations and effectively postpone the elections to the civic bodies.
But it is against all democratic norms for members of a ruling party at the Centre to vandalize the house of an elected chief minister. If they needed to protest, they should have done so peacefully to make their point. Although AAP went over the top and said that the BJP workers are "plotting to kill" Kejriwal (he was not at home when the attack took place), violence cannot be condoned and the BJP must condemn it. It must also rein in these elements. In the instant case, since the attack was captured on camera, the culprits must also be identified and punished. Just registering an FIR against 'unidentified persons', as the Delhi police have done, will not do.
Pic courtesy: images tweeted by AAP's Raghav Chaddha
