NEW DELHI | The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hit out at the BJP and the Modi government over the police crackdown on protesters heading to Jantar Mantar on Saturday. Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the government had imposed an undeclared emergency in Delhi, with police dragging and assaulting youths, women, journalists and lawyers and forcibly detaining over 7,000 people, including Arvind Kejriwal, three other former chief ministers and senior CJP leaders. He said the shutdown of trains and the Metro had prevented lakhs of people from reaching Jantar Mantar to demand Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, and called on the country’s youth to unite against the government.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters alongside AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj, senior leader Gopal Rai and National Media In-charge Anurag Dhanda, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, “Delhi has been turned into Uganda since Saturday and transformed into a centre of oppression and brutality. Videos and photographs show how senior journalists, Supreme Court lawyers and women have been dragged and assaulted. BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) goons openly dragged women protesters and tore their clothes in the presence of the police.”
Sanjay Singh further stated, “Narendra Modi speaks of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath talks about setting up anti-Romeo squads in Uttar Pradesh, but in Delhi, they have unleashed their own goons and hooligans.” He said the entire city had been turned into a cantonment to protect PM Narendra Modi’s pet vote thief, Gyanesh Kumar.
He added, “Gyanesh Kumar has stolen votes in Delhi, Bihar, Bengal, Haryana and Maharashtra, helping defeat the Opposition in elections and ensure victories for the BJP and Narendra Modi. Through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), he has deleted 13 crore 37 lakh votes across the country. When CJP called for a peaceful protest against him, the government resorted to lathis and batons.”
He continued, “Arvind Kejriwal, who has served as Delhi’s Chief Minister three times, was dragged through the streets and bundled into a bus. Saurabh Bharadwaj, Anurag Dhanda and several other AAP leaders and MLAs were treated as though they were mafia members or terrorists.
The AAP MP highlighted that the police even arrested former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while students were chased and beaten. “CJP leaders Abhijit Deepke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurabh Das were arrested after the police entered an aircraft, where they had no authority to go. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was arrested from his home after the police misbehaved with his parents,” he said.
He further noted that more than 6,000 arrests have taken place in Delhi, while at least six lakh people would have gathered peacefully had they been allowed to protest freely. “The government shut down trains and the Metro, completely disrupting travel to Delhi for sick people, traders and labourers,” he highlighted.
Sanjay Singh said, “The police entered a gurdwara, a revered place of worship for Sikhs where langar is served, wearing shoes and carrying batons. They beat and dragged people out and even stripped a Sikh youth. PM Modi must remember that when the Emergency was imposed in the country, the government of that time also believed its rule would never end, but the people eventually overthrew it. PM Modi has now created an Emergency-like situation in the country, but the youth will unite and ensure that the Modi-Gyanesh duo is removed from power.”
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “In the last two protests, we have seen the BJP’s police and right-wing organisations targeting and attacking women. Police officers of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) have been seen harassing women during protests, while constables and head constables have been caught putting their hands inside women’s trousers.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “The right-wing goons who arrived on Saturday specifically targeted women and tore their clothes. The Prime Minister’s complaint was also directed at women and young girls, as he said he had not expected them to use such language.”
He further said that the way the right-wing ecosystem was targeting women suggested that its members were disturbed by the freedom guaranteed to women under the Constitution of India. “They do not want women to leave their homes and speak up for their rights. I appeal to women across the country to unite against the BJP and right-wing forces, or these forces will take away their rights,” he said.
Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said, “The Modi government has added a new black chapter to India’s democratic history. The country has witnessed much larger movements since Independence, but the government was deeply frightened by the student and youth protest demanding the Education Minister’s resignation. This fear was evident at the BJP spokespersons’ press conference on Saturday evening, where they celebrated what they called the failure of the movement.”
“The movement’s biggest success is that the Modi government deployed all its resources to stop it. Trains and the Metro were shut down, police were stationed at every corner, barricades were erected everywhere and internet services were suspended. Yet, according to the government’s official records, 7,000 people were arrested,” he added.
The AAP senior leader said, “The figure of 7,000 arrests is only the official count. On Saturday, 30 people were arrested alongside me on Feroz Shah Road, but only 10 names were recorded in the official register. Thousands of people defied the government’s intimidation and took to the streets to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. This is only the beginning.” He said Gyanesh Kumar had stolen votes and that by imposing a ‘Black Emergency’ on Saturday, the government had made it clear that it stood with the thief.
“The people, students and youth of the country would no longer tolerate either the thief or those protecting him,” he asserted and said the movement would reach its conclusion by peaceful and democratic means under all circumstances. He further stated the government should not attempt to repeat Saturday’s actions, warning that the slogan ‘Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod’ would turn into ‘Vote Choro Gaddi Chhodo’.
Gopal Rai appealed to the people, students and youth across the country to keep the movement peaceful, no matter how hard the government tried to stop it. He said a peaceful movement was the only way to secure victory and urged everyone to remain committed to it.
AAP national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda said, “I have never witnessed senior lawyers being dragged in this manner. The police dragging and detaining people who had taken shelter in a gurdwara is a grave insult to Sikhism and the traditions of the gurdwara. The Nishan Sahib installed at a gurdwara symbolises that anyone in need can seek shelter there and that its doors remain open to everyone.”
Anurag Dhanda continued, “Police personnel marching into such a place carrying batons and wearing shoes shows that the BJP has no regard for Sikhism, its code of conduct or its traditions. The BJP will face the consequences of this in the future.
He further stated, “Several media personnel and independent journalists were bundled into buses and detained by the police despite showing their press cards. Journalists were told they could cover the protest only from designated spots along the roadside.” Apart from the Emergency period, he noted, no previous government since Independence has witnessed such a dark chapter.
Anurag Dhanda concluded by stating, “The BJP has created this unprecedented situation in Delhi because it is facing unprecedented circumstances itself. The people of this country are no longer willing to accept the BJP or its repression. In its attempt to protect Gyanesh Kumar, the day is not far when PM Narendra Modi will also have to pack his bags and leave, because the BJP is creating these circumstances for itself.”
