NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the removal of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest site, urging him not to act with “arrogance” and saying that “history is witness” to the consequences of such behaviour.
In a self-recorded video message posted on X, Kejriwal said, “I want to pray to Modiji, don’t do this, don’t be so arrogant. So much arrogance is not good. History is witness that whenever someone has been so arrogant, that person has been destroyed.”
Kejriwal alleged that Wangchuk was taken away from the protest site in an improper manner and claimed that his supporters were mistreated during the action.
“When I woke up this morning, I heard that Sonam Wangchuk ji was picked up in a very wrong way, and an attempt was made to break his fast. Police were sent in plain clothes, he was covered with a bedsheet from all sides, and his companions were mistreated, insulted, pushed, and shoved before he was picked up and admitted to the hospital,” he said.
Comparing the incident with Mahatma Gandhi’s hunger strikes during the freedom movement, Kejriwal questioned the government’s response to the protest.
“Gandhiji had kept such long fasts. Even the British did not behave like this. Is this why we fought for independence, so that one day our own government would behave like this?” he said.
Kejriwal said Wangchuk and protesting students were raising issues related to education and examination systems.
“I want to ask Modiji, what are these children asking for? These are the children of our country. It is not right to mistreat them like this. These children are only asking for a good education system, that there should be no paper leaks and that there should be a good examination system,” he said.
The AAP leader alleged that instead of addressing these concerns, the government’s focus was on weakening the protest.
“Instead of paying attention to that, the government’s entire focus is on how to fail their movement, how to discredit their movement, and how to insult their movement,” Kejriwal said.
In a post, he wrote, “Modi ji insulted Sonam Wangchuk out of arrogance today. Modi ji should have spoken with Sonam Wangchuk.”
