The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) celebrated Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary with fervour at its headquarters on Sunday, where Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj drew a stinging comparison between the BJP-led Central Government and the British Raj. Remembering Shaheed-e-Azam, the AAP Delhi Unit Chief said just as the British jailed freedom fighters on false charges to crush their movements, the Modi government is imprisoning voices of truth like social activist Sonam Wangchuk and AAP’s Mehraj Malik in Jammu & Kashmir in the hope that people will forget them.
Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted that the government, trembling like Kansa, is destined to meet the same fate as past regimes of fear—an inevitable downfall at the hands of a people’s movement. During this, AAP MLAs Sanjeev Jha, Kuldeep Kumar, Vishesh Ravi, former MLA Durgesh Pathak, Delhi Women’s Wing President Sarika Chaudhary, along with several other party leaders and workers were also present.
Addressing a gathering on the birth anniversary of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj narrated the story of Kansa and drew sharp parallels to the current regime. “King Kansa’s subjects suffered immensely under his rule. People believed that God would ultimately punish him for his sins. When Kansa learnt through a prophecy that the eighth child of his sister Devaki would end his life, he grew fearful and killed every child born to her,” Saurabh Bharadwaj said. “Today, the BJP government at the Centre is behaving exactly like Kansa—consumed by fear. It knows that, just like earlier governments that fell to public movements, its end too will come through a people’s movement.”
The AAP Delhi unit chief said the Modi government wants to ensure that no “child of Devaki”—no voice of resistance—remains. “This is why whenever a movement begins in Uttarakhand, the government panics, fearing that it might be the one to drown them. When protests erupt in Ladakh, the Prime Minister trembles. If a movement starts near Mundka over the UER-2 issue, the Prime Minister gets scared, wondering if the people of Mundka will drown them. Fear of being toppled has gripped the entire government,” he said.
He highlighted that protests have erupted across the country—from Uttarakhand to Manipur, the North East, and Ladakh. “Even outside the AAP headquarters, police are permanently stationed in anticipation of an uprising. Today, on Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary, police stand guard outside. A few days ago, Sonam Wangchuk was arrested in Ladakh. No police were deployed outside the Congress or BJP offices there, but in Delhi, police stood outside AAP’s headquarters. The central government fears that a ‘child of Devaki’ might emerge here to lead a movement. Like Kansa, this government cannot sleep at night, haunted by fear,” Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
Taking on BJP’s social media campaigns, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “All BJP-supported social media handles are repeatedly using the term ‘Gen-Z’ and claiming that Gen-Z is turning saffron and siding with BJP. Why is BJP so scared? Who is asking them who supports whom? In every audio and video post, they try to portray that the youth is with them. But what have they given to the youth that they would side with BJP? Neither the young nor the elderly are with them.”
Speaking on the arrest of renowned environmentalist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk, the senior AAP leader said, “The Modi government arrested such a great personality. Sonam Wangchuk is highly educated and capable. He has made numerous inventions in education and environmental fields in Ladakh. He has received hundreds of awards from across the world. Different countries invite him to award honorary doctorates and to use his inventions. He designed the world’s first solar-powered heating tent for the Indian Army and created ice stupas to provide water for agriculture and other needs in summer. He is globally celebrated for his innovations.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj recalled that when PM Narendra Modi abrogated Article 370, Sonam Wangchuk welcomed the move, hoping it would bring peace to Kashmir. “Even the people of India believed that removing Article 370 would resolve the Kashmir issue. But six years have passed, and nothing has improved. For seventy years, those who claimed that scrapping Article 370 would solve Kashmir have failed. Sonam Wangchuk too said the government’s policy is wrong and demanded that promises made to Ladakh be fulfilled,” he said.
He pointed out that Ladakhis are simple and peace-loving people, most of whom follow Buddhism and believe in non-violence. “For the last five to six years, they have been pleading with folded hands. The government had promised to include Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and grant it full statehood. These promises remain unfulfilled. People have been sitting on protests and hunger strikes. Sonam Wangchuk walked 700-800 km from Ladakh to Delhi to raise their demands. But the government humiliated him and sent him back, and now they brand these peaceful protesters as traitors,” Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
He expressed anguish over the deaths in the recent violence in Ladakh. “No one even mentions those who were killed. They were not terrorists, Pakistanis or Chinese—they were our own 20–21-year-old youths. The father of one slain youth wept, saying that both he and his 46-year-old son devoted their lives to the Indian Army. His son fought in the Kargil war and started a small business after retirement. When he decided to fight for his rights, he was beaten and then shot dead—not by accident, but deliberately.”
Displaying the photograph of the deceased, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Bhagat Singh never dies. Every year, Bhagat Singh is born in India. But this Bhagat Singh was killed by the central government. He served in the Ladakh Scouts, fought against Pakistan in Kargil, and left behind two sons and two daughters. His father was also a soldier. His children study in Army school and are ready to join the forces. Yet our government treated him in this manner.”
Drawing a striking comparison, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “During Bhagat Singh’s time, even the British government did not pay someone to murder him in the streets. They filed cases, published news in newspapers, and held trials. Although the entire system—government, lawyers, judges, media—belonged to the British, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were given a legal trial before being hanged. Today, the same is happening in India. They cannot pay someone to stab Sonam Wangchuk, so they will fabricate false cases and spread fake news, calling him a traitor to jail him. This is being done so that we forget Sonam Wangchuk. But we will not forget that Sonam Wangchuk has been jailed for two days and AAP MLA Meharaj Malik for 13 days.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj urged citizens to resist the government’s attempts to erase such movements from public memory. “The government thinks that by jailing people, the public will forget them and the movements will die. That is why we must pledge to remember them. Whenever we get the chance, we must write on social media: Sonam Wangchuk has been jailed for five days, Meharaj Malik for 18 days. Even if it takes two or two-and-a-half years, we must keep writing. The government must understand that the people will never forget. We must remember that our brothers were jailed only because they raised their voice for justice,” he declared.
The AAP Delhi unit head called on people to keep Bhagat Singh’s spirit alive. “Somewhere in our hearts, Bhagat Singh lives on. We must not let his consciousness die. Bhagat Singh was hanged, but this government can at most jail us. Nothing more. Citizens must resolve that we are not afraid of jail. This government cannot do more than imprison us. When the government changes, all political cases will be quashed. We must shed the fear of jail. Once people overcome that fear, such governments cannot last long.”
During the event, AAP leader and Padma Shri awardee Jitender Singh Shunty paid tribute to the martyrdom and revolutionary ideals of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Jitender Singh Shunty said Bhagat Singh considered slavery the greatest curse on the nation and ignited the flame of freedom with the slogan “Inquilab Zindabad.” He recalled Bhagat Singh’s steadfastness when he rejected a proposal to pardon his death sentence, declaring that if he were martyred, Bhagat Singh would be born in every home. Jitender Singh Shunty praised AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal for honoring Bhagat Singh’s legacy by initiating the installation of his portraits in government offices 65 years after independence.
