MillenniumPost
Opinion

Probes, deals and Arvind

It is of interest that in asking for probes into corrupt deals, Arvind Kejriwal seems to have stirred up quite a storm. Scores of activists, who have been protesting against corruption, have been detained by police in Mumbai, as they have been in other cities and towns earlier. Meanwhile, Kejriwal himself has not been spared by the Congress which continues to make personal attacks on him.  This party has not only alleged that Kejriwal is levelling charges of financial wrongdoing against people with the aim of defaming them but has also suggested that Kejriwal is ‘mentally ill’. This is a most surprising stand for a political party to take. This does seem to be a case of political victimisation. It is well-known that Kejriwal has been threatened with physical violence by a Congress minister accused of corruption. Not only that, some of the rallies organised by him and other anti-corruption activists have been broken up by this Congress-led-United Progressive Alliance government. Many of the Congress party’s allies do not see eye to eye with it not just on corruption but on many other issues. At some of these anti-corruption rallies, the Congress-led government has misused the police, who have brutally attacked the activists of this cause.  The victims are from all sections of society, with the police, controlled by the Congress-led Central government, having spared neither men nor women. Even at a rally last year the same happened. Someone who escaped the police lathi-charge dressed as a women was arrested later and maltreated by the police in a lock-up.

Besides, rallies of other political parties including some of the Congress party’s own allies, have been similarly broken up. It seems that one political party is bent upon browbeating all those who oppose it, as has happened in the past. The definition of criminality  now freshly re-cycled by the Congress party is  strange but not surprising. It does not see the physical violence unleashed by it on people as criminal but it sees those who point to the corruption that it has introduced into government, or to any of its other wrongdoings, as criminals of a kind. The crackdown on those who oppose its policies is reminiscent similar actions and activities in the past. The Indian people must recognise the true character of this government. In the interests of our democracy, we must defend the rights of political parties and individuals to express their views. It is no longer just about corruption or the movement against it. It is also about the character of our country — for the right to freedom of speech and expression is sacrosanct The hard won freedom of the Indian people must be defended.
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