People must ask themselves: Is this why we won Independence, so that one day our own govt would mistreat us? Arvind Kejriwal
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday tore into the Modi Government after educationist Sonam Wangchuk was removed from his hunger strike at Jantar Mantar. Calling the action an outcome of the Prime Minister’s “arrogance”, Arvind Kejriwal said the Modi Government chose to suppress a peaceful movement demanding an end to paper leaks and reforms in the education system instead of engaging with the protesters.
Expressing solidarity with Sonam Wangchuk, the AAP Supremo urged people across the country to stand with the protesting youth and join them at Jantar Mantar, emphasising only a united public movement could force the government to act.
In a video message, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that as soon as he woke up this morning, he learned that Sonam Wangchuk had been forcibly removed from his protest site in a highly improper manner and that an attempt had been made to break his hunger strike. “Police personnel in plain clothes surrounded him, covered the area with sheets from all sides, misbehaved with his companions, shoved them around, and then forcibly took him away and admitted him to a hospital,” he shared.
Recalling Mahatma Gandhi’s fasts, Arvind Kejriwal stated, “Mahatma Gandhi observed many long fasts, yet even the British did not treat him like this. Is this the freedom we fought for? Did we gain Independence only to see a day when our own government would treat its own people in such a disgraceful manner?”
The AAP Chief emphasised that these are the children of our country, and treating them like this is completely wrong. They are only demanding a good education system, an end to paper leaks, and a transparent and fair examination system. But instead of addressing these basic demands, the government’s entire focus is on crushing this youth movement, defaming it and humiliating it.
He further said, “I pray to Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to do this and not to let arrogance consume you, because such arrogance never ends well. History is witness that whenever anyone has become so arrogant, it has ultimately led to their downfall.”
Arvind Kejriwal asserted, “The NEET paper was leaked. A massive scam took place in the CBSE evaluation system. The future of lakhs of students has been ruined. Sonam Wangchuk began his hunger strike to demand that this broken system be fixed. No child in Sonam Wangchuk’s family has been affected. He is not fasting for himself. He is fasting for your children. I have also heard that Abhijeet Deepke has now joined the hunger strike. No child in his family has been affected either. He too is sitting on a hunger strike for your children.”
Calling on citizens to join the protest, he continued, “Whenever a child in your family suffers because of this rotten examination system, you complain and criticise the government and the system. But today, when these people are sitting at Jantar Mantar for your children, why are you sitting at home? Why are you not standing with them at Jantar Mantar?”
Urging people to take action, Arvind Kejriwal added, “If you do not go to Jantar Mantar today and do not raise your voice with them, then do not complain tomorrow when another examination paper is leaked. We all must come out onto the streets together. We all must raise our voices together. Everyone must unite. Only then will this government listen. Otherwise, it will not listen at all. Papers will continue to leak, our children will continue to die by suicide, and this rotten system will continue. Go to Jantar Mantar immediately.”
Meanwhile, former Delhi Deputy CM and AAP Punjab Prabhari Manish Sisodia stated, “We had heard that Mughal rulers used to flog those who questioned their authority. We had heard that British police used to lathi-charge ordinary people who raised their voices against injustice. But Narendra Modi’s police is the police of independent India. Then why is it brutally suppressing the voice of the country’s youth?”
He said, “The youth of this country are making only one simple demand to Prime Minister Narendra Modi: conduct examinations honestly by stopping paper leaks and cheating. They are also demanding that the dishonest and incompetent Education Minister appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi be removed. But instead of accepting these demands, the Prime Minister is not even willing to speak to them.”
Manish Sisodia continued, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi harbours so much hatred for young people demanding their rights that today he sent the police to lathi-charge them. The police are trying to forcibly end their hunger strike, and in the process, they have forcibly taken their leader, Sonam Wangchuk, to a hospital. What exactly is Prime Minister Narendra Modi doing?”
Recalling history, the senior AAP leader said, “We have heard that during the Mughal era, tyrannical rulers would not even allow people to speak and would have them flogged. The British police, too, responded to people’s voices with lathi charges instead of listening to them. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committing even greater excesses against the youth of his own country than the Mughals and the British ever did. He refuses to listen to their voices, and he should be ashamed of it.”
