The former Delhi Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, called out the BJP for weaponising the names of Sikh Gurus for crude political gains while carrying a long record of hostility towards the Sikh community. Calling the allegations against her a calculated lie, the senior AAP leader asserted her and her family’s unwavering faith in Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib and the Sikh Gurus, and said the BJP had no moral authority to speak on respect for Sikh traditions.
The Delhi Assembly LoP pointed to the BJP’s branding of Sikh protesters as “Khalistanis” during the farmers’ movement and said its decision to reward Kapil Mishra, a habitual liar who has apologised in court for falsehoods, laid bare the BJP’s politics of insult, hypocrisy, and communal provocation.
During a media interaction on Tuesday, Former Delhi CM and Delhi Assembly LoP Atishi stated that the allegations made by the BJP are completely false. “For Sikh Gurus, especially Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, my family and I have the utmost respect and reverence. I myself come from a family where, in every generation, the eldest son of the family goes to the gurdwara, becomes a Sikh, and dedicates himself to serving society,” she added.
The Delhi Assembly LoP stated that the people must remember that Kapil Mishra’s habit of lying is not a new habit. She pointed out that this is the same Kapil Mishra who once made the false allegation that he had seen Arvind Kejriwal taking money with his own eyes. “Later, this very Kapil Mishra had to apologise before the court and admit that he was lying,” she stated.
Atishi emphasised that the same thing will happen again today. Talking about the court case and the FIR that has been registered in Jalandhar, and the directions given by the court against Kapil Mishra, she added, “This clearly shows that the insult to the Gurus committed by Kapil Mishra was done for petty politics, to divert attention and to run away from a discussion on pollution.”
She added, “For such petty politics, he insulted the Gurus, edited the video, inserted the names of the Gurus, and did politics in the name of the Gurus. And remember, this is the same BJP that we saw during the farmers’ movement involving our Sikh brothers. The same Kapil Mishra used abusive and derogatory language against the farmers that we cannot even repeat here.” Atishi stated that leaders from the BJP, Kangana Ranaut, Nitin Patel, and Meenakshi Lekhi, left no stone unturned in calling the Sikh brothers ‘Khalistanis’.
She concluded by saying, “We have seen how Kapil Mishra’s lie gets exposed. We have seen how, for petty politics, Kapil Mishra operates. He stoops to insulting the Gurus and dragging them into his politics.