Published 14:37 IST, January 28th 2021
Delhi CM Kejriwal breaks silence on 'unfortunate' riot; doesn't want violence to distract
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday has called the Delhi violence by Farmers 'unfortunate' and has sought a strict inquiry on the real culprits
Breaking his silence on the riot that Delhi witnessed on Republic Day after two days, CM Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday called the incident 'unfortunate' and sought a strict inquiry on the 'real culprits' responsible for the violence, going on to fire allegations of political parties and infiltrators being responsible for all that was unsavory while simultaneously attempting to remain in the farmers' good books.
Delhi CM Kejriwal's first reaction
Delhi CM said, "Whatever happened on 26 January was unfortunate. The real culprits should be punished. Not those who are filing cases on fake cases, but those who are responsible for real, the parties who have instigated this should be severely punished. "
He added, "But just because of the violence, the farmers' issues remain relevant for which they are relentlessly fighting for 60 days. The movement will not end so soon as the problems remain the same. A country with unhappy farmers can never be happy itself. We all have to support the farmers, but peacefully and we must not politicize it either."
AAP earlier alleged that the Central government's agencies had infiltrated the farmers' agitation to perpetrate violence on Republic Day. Addressing a press conference, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha claimed that BJP had planted actor Deep Sidhu and other persons to insult the national flag at the Red Fort on Tuesday. According to him, this was an attempt to malign the stir against the farm laws and to distract people. To buttress his point, he showed photographs in which Sidhu is seen with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with BJP MP Sunny Deol.
On Tuesday, AAP blamed the Centre for allowing law and order to deteriorate to such an extent. Claiming that those who indulged in violence were 'external elements', AAP said that the violence has weakened the movement which was peaceful till date. AAP has demanded the repeal of the three farm Laws and provided assistance to the protesting farmers at Delhi borders with free wi-fi, medical aid, food, and water. The party said, "We strongly condemn the violence seen in today's protest. It is regrettable that the Central govt allowed the situation to deteriorate to such an extent. The movement has been peaceful for the last two months. Farmer leaders have said that those who indulged in violence today were not part of the movement and were external elements. Whoever they were, the violence has certainly weakened the movement which was going on so peacefully and in a disciplined manner."
Since then, however, the AAP has been called out for tweeting on Jan 25 that it was keeping ambulances ready for the farmers ahead of their tractor rally, just like a lot of other parties seemingly open to the possibility that violence could break out but supporting such a tractor march in a city it runs regardless.
Updated 14:37 IST, January 28th 2021