As a student of politics I have known that conspiracy is the name of politics, but did not know that in reality it is so deeply entrenched and so ruthless. The present so-called crisis is the latest product of the BJP’s productive conspiracy factory. Now, it’s being accused that the chief secretary of the Delhi government has been beaten up at the CM’s residence, in his presence, by AAP MLAs. Two MLAs are already arrested. This is a sinister design to destabilise the AAP government which the Modi-led BJP Government had been trying to do since the inception of the AAP Government.
Logic-Defying Lies
Can anyone believe that a CM would be so stupid to call the chief secretary at his residence at midnight and let loose his MLAs? India knows that Kejriwal is far more intelligent and has far better things to do for the country. It’s a pure lie, a concocted story, the product of a frustrated mind.
In the last three years, more than 15 MLAs have been arrested on frivolous charges and most of them are either discharged or exonerated by the courts. The BJP government first tried to intimidate our MLAs and now when it has failed it has resorted to this dirty trick.
I have no hesitation in admitting that that night, the MLAs were very angry. They were upset as 2.5 lakh poor people were not getting ‘rashan’ due to a newly implemented online system. On 6 December 2017, Delhi’s food minister Imran Hussain passed an order to immediately stop that system and made ‘rashan’ available to the concerned persons. This order was not implemented. MLAs were furious as they wanted an immediate solution, so the chief secretary was called in.
The food minister could not come as he was busy. However, while it is true that heated arguments took shape between the MLAs and the chief secretary, there was no physical assault.
How the Wildfire Spread
Chief secretary leaves the CM’s residence. Neither does he file an FIR that night nor does he get a medical checkup done for his alleged injuries. Suddenly, the story appears on TV channels after 12 hours, and within an hour, the IAS association gives a bite to the media.
By 1 PM, within the premises of the secretariat – 50 meters away from the CM’s office – more than 200 officers and employees gather, provocative speeches are made and Minister Imran Hussain and DDC Vice Chairman Ashish Khetan were heckled and beaten up. It was all preplanned.
By evening, Dalit MLA, a barely 29-year-old Prakash Jarwal is arrested. Next morning, another MLA Amanatullah Khan is held as well. But most surprisingly, no cognisance is taken of the beating of a minister at the secretariat despite the presence of the video evidence, police complaints by Ashish Khetan and Imran Hussain, and medical examination reports (MLCs) to prove the same. Why?
In the eyes of law, everybody is equal but in this case the statement of the chief secretary outweighs everything else. He has no evidence to support his allegation but prompt action is taken. However, in the case of two senior functionaries of the government being heckled and thrashed, the video evidence for which is available, no action till date has been taken. Does it not imply that the police department which directly reports to the lieutenant governor is biased?
Why are the Officers Lying?
The chief secretary gets his medico-legal examination done after 30 hours. It was established that he had several injury marks, whereas the CCTV cameras which captured his exit from the CM’s residence shows him walking normally. He looked relaxed. He did not look upset or agitated in his gait. Why, then, is he making such an allegation?
It appears that he might be working under some pressure. BJP government under Modi has mastered the art of successfully intimidating officers and political adversaries. Be it the Sohrabuddin case, the Ishrat Jahan Case, the Best Bakery case, or other cases in Gujarat, there is a definite pattern of witnesses turning hostile in bulk, facilitating the dismissal of the accused against whom higher courts found prime facie evidences. The Judge Loya case is a prime example .
In this case the Delhi police is caught red handed too. On 22 February, Delhi Police submitted a recorded statement of the CM’s adviser V K Jain, that “when he came back from the washroom, he found the chief secretary being assaulted and he was searching for his spectacles.”
Police had earlier – 24 hours back to be specific – recorded the statement of the same Mr V K Jain, which stated that “while the meeting was on, he had gone to the washroom and had not seen any assault on the CS. When he came out he saw the CS walk out of the meeting.” Mr Jain, who in one statement to the same police found nothing objectionable, makes another statement that is incriminating in nature. Which one is true?
Why did two contradictory statements come from the same person? Does it not smack of conspiracy, of a larger design? From what I know, after the first statement, the police, with the aid of a few CBI officials threatened Mr Jain. There is a case of irregularity against Mr Jain and the BJP government had successfully intimidated him to get a new statement, threatening him that if he did not say what is being told then he might land up in jail. What could the poor man have done?
Another proof of conspiracy – Delhi police on second day came out with another afterthought. Now, it has recorded another statement of the chief secretary in which he is stating that the attack was so brutal that he could have died. If one reads the medico-legal report of the chief secretary carefully, it only mentions “SIMPLE INJURIES.” If the attack was indeed brutal, his body should have serious injuries and the medical report should support the statement.
The chief secretary’s report does not support his own second statement. This clearly establishes that somebody at the top is hell bent to destabilise the AAP government, weaving a web of new conspiracies every day. But AAP won’t buckle under such tactics. We will emerge victorious as we believe that India’s democracy is far more powerful.
(The writer is an author and spokesperson of AAP. He can be reached at @ashutosh83B.This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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