Kejriwal arrest: AAP supporters hit Delhi streets; ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj under preventive detention

“I have been detained by Delhi Police while peacefully protesting at ITO. First, these people arrested the Chief Minister of Delhi in a false case, and then the peaceful protesters were also arrested. If this is not the murder of democracy, then what is it?” Atishi asked.

Police, however, said 80 people were detained and taken to Bawana and Jafarpur Kalan police stations, and the women, including Atishi, were released later in the evening.

Addressing reporters before the protest, Bharadwaj equated the circumstances to British colonial rule and questioned why Kejriwal’s family was not allowed to even meet him before he was taken into custody.

“The world is angry today that a Chief Minister elected thrice has been arrested by the ED. Arrests have always happened in politics… But the humanity that even the British used to show, the minimum humanity considered in every country has not been considered here,” he alleged.

“You have arrested Arvind ji, his family is at home… From yesterday onwards, nobody has been allowed to meet his family. This psychological game the Union government is playing with the elderly parents of an elected CM. Even the British would not have resorted to such shameful behaviour,” he added.
AAP’s Delhi convenor Gopal Rai, after meeting the CM’s family, said Kejriwal’s relatives said the ED officials did not question the CM but only searched the house and arrested him.

Show of support

Also among those detained were AAP supporters, who accused the BJP of giving the go-ahead for Kejriwal’s arrest without any evidence.

Ritu Taneja, a government school teacher from Chandni Chowk said, “I am also Kejriwal. Arrest me also. This is a complete dictatorship. What are we going to (tell our) children, that if you raise your voice, you will be arrested?”

Shankuntala Devi, 35, from Rajender Nagar, was among a group of housewives who arrived around 7 am to join the protest. She said, “The development work carried out by the CM in areas of education and health is there for everyone to see… today if my son or I fall sick, it has become very accessible to go to a Delhi government hospital.”

Retired ISRO scientist Om Prakash, 76, who lives in Moti Nagar, said the Centre has murdered democracy and the Constitution. “I have witnessed several elections and seen parties come and go. Whatever is happening today is nothing less than the Emergency. This is a quasi-Emergency… this also shows that they will do whatever they want to… very soon, they may dissolve the Delhi Assembly also…”

Ankush Narang, a municipal leader, said the PM was afraid of facing strong competition. “PM Narendra Modi saw a dream of securing 400 seats, but Kejriwal ji has come in the middle of his dream…so, he got scared. He saw that he had strong competition ahead of the polls… that is why Modi got Kejriwal arrested… every person in Delhi is Arvind Kejriwal… he will run the government from jail and he was, is and will always be our CM,” he said.

Ramayan, a 65-year-old AAP supporter, said Kejriwal is being framed in a bogus case in a bid to hide the corrupt activities of the BJP: “This is the state of the country where those who support the state government and are a part of it are either being detained or arrested.”

Meanwhile, 35-year-old Jitendra from Sultanpuri, who has been associated with the AAP even before its inception, lashed out at the BJP for trying to destroy AAP in Delhi by arresting its four leaders. “First they arrested Satyendar Jain, then Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and now the CM… If he is so corrupt, then why are people electing AAP again and again? He (Kejriwal) has worked a lot for the people in all sectors from Education to Health… we will not stop, our protest will continue…,” he said.

Ajay Kumar Sharma, a businessman who came from UP’s Bulandshahr, said there is no evidence that Kejriwal is corrupt.
Also among the protesters was Raj Kumar (35), a DTC bus driver who had come to attend the protest from Adarsh Nagar. Resolving to stay at the spot till the evening, he said: “Most top leaders of the AAP are behind bars… tell me, is there any proof of all these allegations or any basis for it?”