The former Delhi chief minister cited multiple videos circulating on social media from Monday’s protest. He referred to clips of students and young women pleading with folded hands while police continued to beat them
NEW DELHI — Invoking the memory of Jallianwala Bagh and its architect General Reginald Dyer, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday launched one of his sharpest attacks yet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of surpassing the British in brutality against unarmed youth.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital a day after Delhi Police’s crackdown on the Cockroach Janta Party’s ‘Sansad Chalo’ march, Kejriwal said the country would teach “dictators” a historic lesson.
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“Modiji, ye desh aapke pitaji ka nahi hai, 140 crore logon ka hai. Dhamki dena band karo, nahin toh desh ke log aisa mazaa chakhayenge ki itihaas yaad rakhega ki kya haal, kya hashr hua tha ek taanashah ka is desh ke andar,” Kejriwal said.
[This country does not belong to your father; it belongs to 1.4 billion people. Stop issuing threats; otherwise, the people will teach you such a lesson that history will remember what happened, what fate befell a dictator in this nation.]
The provocation, Kejriwal said, was a Delhi Police press release issued Tuesday morning warning that FIRs would be registered against everyone who participated in Monday’s protest.
‘Even Dyer Did Not Do This’
“The way the Modi government brutally attacked the children and youth of our country yesterday (Monday), I believe history has never witnessed anything like this,” Kejriwal said.
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“Modi ji has surpassed even the British. Perhaps even the British never carried out lathi-charges or attacks on freedom fighters in the way the Modi government attacked our own children yesterday.”
Then came the direct historical parallel.
“Such brutality has never been seen before. It feels as though even what General Dyer did at Jallianwala Bagh has been surpassed by Modi ji. Some people are even saying that perhaps General Dyer has been reborn in the form of Modi ji,” he said, referring to the British officer who ordered firing on unarmed Indians at Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919, killing several hundred.
Kejriwal cited multiple videos circulating on social media from the July 20 protest.
“I saw one video where two or three policemen were standing by the roadside, striking every child who walked past with batons. These children were doing nothing. They were not attacking anyone; they were just walking past, yet they were being beaten indiscriminately,” he said.
“There are also videos showing tear gas shells being fired at groups of 20-25 students who were merely sitting peacefully, where there was absolutely no need for such action.”
He referred to clips of students and young women pleading with folded hands while police continued to beat them.
Fake FIRs, Missing Youth
The former Delhi chief minister accused Delhi Police of registering “fake FIRs” and detaining youth without informing families.
“Many parents have been crying and searching for their children. They have alleged that police have taken their children to some jail or other location, but no one is telling them where they are,” he said.
Kejriwal announced that AAP has formed a legal team to assist protesters and their parents.
“If necessary, we will arrange for the best lawyers in the country to represent your children. There is no need to be afraid. Modi ji, keep your threats to yourself. This country is not going to be intimidated by your threats. All 140 crore people are united,” he said.
He said a helpline — 8588833548 — has been set up for parents and relatives unable to trace their children after the protest, and offered legal and medical help through the party.
Kejriwal said he would visit Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to meet the injured and would go to Parliament Street police station to seek a list of all FIRs registered and all persons detained, with or without FIR.
Responding to questions about his own absence from the Jantar Mantar protest, Kejriwal said he had to travel to Punjab for unavoidable work, but his son and daughter had participated for four to five hours and faced tear gas.
“They were present where tear gas shells were fired. All our leaders were there. The entire AAP and our entire family were there. We are all together. The whole country is one family of 140 crore people. There is no need to fear these dictators. We are united, and we will continue to fight together,” he said.
