Modi’s AAP problem // BJP activists beat up AAP workers in Lucknow
BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad, overcome with anger of the kind that makes you breathless and repeat the same words till they echo in the head, bristled at the mention of Arvind Kejriwal. "Urban Maoists" he hollered at the TV news reporter and uttered the word 'Maoist' possibly more times in 30 seconds than Mamata Banerjee has in her entire career as West Bengal's chief minister. BJP leader Nalin Singh, also visibly agitated, sparred with yet another reporter suggesting Arvind Kejriwal is capable of orchestrating a BJP attack on himself to stay in the news before the Lok Sabha polls...
Read: Hindutva is the Maoism of the elite
NB-It is rich irony for the BJP spokesman to accuse the AAP of Maoism. If 'maoism' signifies political violence to him, the entire spectrum of mainstream parties is steeped in violence; & for a party whose candidate for Prime Minister is the man who was at the helm of state while genocidal acts were being committed in the streets (and who despite his machismo is afraid of facing any interview he does not control) it is pure deceit. The erosion of the rule of law and erosion even of Article 21 of the Constitution (the right to life) is the biggest elephant in the drawing-room of Indian democracy. From 1970 till 1993, six judicial commissions of inquiry named the Sangh parivar & associates for violent activities during communal disturbances. As regards 1984, not only the Congress goons, several BJP/RSS cadre were also involved in case of rioting. Swami Aseemanand's disclosure that high-level RSS officials were involved in the Samjhauta train blasts has been forgotten by the media - how would they have reacted if the men presiding over other political groups been similarly implicated?The violence of the sangh 'parivar' is called 'nationalism', even as they condemn stone-pelters as maoists. Is it 'national interest' to send the State IB, Crime Branch & Anti-Terrorist Squad after a young woman just because the Chief Minister orders this illegal surveillance on a personal whim? Why have the BJP's cheer leaders in the corporate-owned media forgotten about it? Will these great men & their intellectual parrots lead us toward a police state? None of these opinion-makers takes up the serious issue of violence unless it suits them. The rest of the time they suffer ethical amnesia. One editor has just used his edit piece to issue strategic advice to the BJP leadership on how to agitate against the AAP & use the tactic of 'plausible deniability' - the CIA invented that synonym for dirty tricks. (Redundant, sir, the RSS perfected the art long ago: check Aseemanand's confessions). Within all shades of the political spectrum, one ruthless principle has been enshrined - the end justifies the means. Apparently only mass murder qualifies parties to become 'mainstream'. Everyone - from maoists to sanghis, thackeray dynasts to islamists, AAP volunteers to CPI (M) & Trinamool cadre - must shun violence, and to do that, they had best look inside and learn to speak truthfully
Kejriwal appeals to AAP members to remain non violent
BJP, Sangh-affiliated groups behind vandalism at Aam Aadmi Party office, says Prashant Bhushan
Barely hours after Kejriwal entered Gujarat, news wires flashed reports that Kejriwal was arrested by the Gujarat police for violating the Election Commission's code of conduct. The Gujarat Police detained Kejriwal for 30 minutes in Gujarat's Patan district giving AAP the chance to position Modi as the frontrunner running scared of their scrappy leader. Soon enough, tweets started flying fast and thick about Modi's "fear of AAP" -- which is exactly what Kejriwal is aiming for: An arrest in Gujarat that he can spin as evidence of Modi's anxiety.
Meanwhile, TV grabs showed BJP workers, armed with lathis, grabbing AAP workers by their hair, shoving them against carts and downed shutters of shops, kicking them and beating them up. Only 20 workers had walked to the Lucknow office of the BJP - nothing that the party should have lost sleep about. But they chose to retaliate and beat them up with such violence that it would shake even the most cynical politics watchers. This was in Lucknow.
Soon after the police in Gujarat let Kejriwal go, news poured in that his convoy was attacked. Reporters said that as Kejriwal alighted from his car and walked towards a gathering where BJP workers were demonstrating, scores of BJP workers attacked his car with sticks. This was from Ahmedabad. Within hours, AAP sprinted back onto prime time news headlines with visuals straight out of a Salman Khan film. If we might add, visuals that even a disinterested news watchers will be immediately hooked on to?
The BJP supporters can whine about Kejriwal's machiavellian tactics, but BJP's hot-blooded politics led by the mid-rung leaders must equally share the blame. They are undoing the best efforts of their chosen candidate to defuse the K-bomb. In his own election campaign, Narendra Modi has not ceded much space to AAP. As long as Modi is at the helm of it, most of the political wrestling has been limited to the Congress party. It's all about dynasty, incompetence, and corruption. In other words, Modi has focused on his favourite opponent: Rahul Gandhi. Read more at
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/modis-aap-problem-kejriwals-attack-me-strategy-in-gujarat-1420799.html
Violent clashes between AAP, BJP workers in Delhi, UP; Kejriwal's car 'attacked' in Gujarat
BJP activists beat up AAP workers in Lucknow
Javed Anand - Why oppose a Communal Violence Bill?
Read: Hindutva is the Maoism of the elite
NB-It is rich irony for the BJP spokesman to accuse the AAP of Maoism. If 'maoism' signifies political violence to him, the entire spectrum of mainstream parties is steeped in violence; & for a party whose candidate for Prime Minister is the man who was at the helm of state while genocidal acts were being committed in the streets (and who despite his machismo is afraid of facing any interview he does not control) it is pure deceit. The erosion of the rule of law and erosion even of Article 21 of the Constitution (the right to life) is the biggest elephant in the drawing-room of Indian democracy. From 1970 till 1993, six judicial commissions of inquiry named the Sangh parivar & associates for violent activities during communal disturbances. As regards 1984, not only the Congress goons, several BJP/RSS cadre were also involved in case of rioting. Swami Aseemanand's disclosure that high-level RSS officials were involved in the Samjhauta train blasts has been forgotten by the media - how would they have reacted if the men presiding over other political groups been similarly implicated?The violence of the sangh 'parivar' is called 'nationalism', even as they condemn stone-pelters as maoists. Is it 'national interest' to send the State IB, Crime Branch & Anti-Terrorist Squad after a young woman just because the Chief Minister orders this illegal surveillance on a personal whim? Why have the BJP's cheer leaders in the corporate-owned media forgotten about it? Will these great men & their intellectual parrots lead us toward a police state? None of these opinion-makers takes up the serious issue of violence unless it suits them. The rest of the time they suffer ethical amnesia. One editor has just used his edit piece to issue strategic advice to the BJP leadership on how to agitate against the AAP & use the tactic of 'plausible deniability' - the CIA invented that synonym for dirty tricks. (Redundant, sir, the RSS perfected the art long ago: check Aseemanand's confessions). Within all shades of the political spectrum, one ruthless principle has been enshrined - the end justifies the means. Apparently only mass murder qualifies parties to become 'mainstream'. Everyone - from maoists to sanghis, thackeray dynasts to islamists, AAP volunteers to CPI (M) & Trinamool cadre - must shun violence, and to do that, they had best look inside and learn to speak truthfully
Kejriwal appeals to AAP members to remain non violent
BJP, Sangh-affiliated groups behind vandalism at Aam Aadmi Party office, says Prashant Bhushan
Barely hours after Kejriwal entered Gujarat, news wires flashed reports that Kejriwal was arrested by the Gujarat police for violating the Election Commission's code of conduct. The Gujarat Police detained Kejriwal for 30 minutes in Gujarat's Patan district giving AAP the chance to position Modi as the frontrunner running scared of their scrappy leader. Soon enough, tweets started flying fast and thick about Modi's "fear of AAP" -- which is exactly what Kejriwal is aiming for: An arrest in Gujarat that he can spin as evidence of Modi's anxiety.
Meanwhile, TV grabs showed BJP workers, armed with lathis, grabbing AAP workers by their hair, shoving them against carts and downed shutters of shops, kicking them and beating them up. Only 20 workers had walked to the Lucknow office of the BJP - nothing that the party should have lost sleep about. But they chose to retaliate and beat them up with such violence that it would shake even the most cynical politics watchers. This was in Lucknow.
Soon after the police in Gujarat let Kejriwal go, news poured in that his convoy was attacked. Reporters said that as Kejriwal alighted from his car and walked towards a gathering where BJP workers were demonstrating, scores of BJP workers attacked his car with sticks. This was from Ahmedabad. Within hours, AAP sprinted back onto prime time news headlines with visuals straight out of a Salman Khan film. If we might add, visuals that even a disinterested news watchers will be immediately hooked on to?
The BJP supporters can whine about Kejriwal's machiavellian tactics, but BJP's hot-blooded politics led by the mid-rung leaders must equally share the blame. They are undoing the best efforts of their chosen candidate to defuse the K-bomb. In his own election campaign, Narendra Modi has not ceded much space to AAP. As long as Modi is at the helm of it, most of the political wrestling has been limited to the Congress party. It's all about dynasty, incompetence, and corruption. In other words, Modi has focused on his favourite opponent: Rahul Gandhi. Read more at
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/modis-aap-problem-kejriwals-attack-me-strategy-in-gujarat-1420799.html
Violent clashes between AAP, BJP workers in Delhi, UP; Kejriwal's car 'attacked' in Gujarat
BJP activists beat up AAP workers in Lucknow
Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday attacked a group of Aam Aadmi Party volunteers outside the BJP headquarters in Lucknow. The AAP members had gathered there to stage a demonstration to lodge their protest against the detention of their leader Arvind Kejriwal in Gujarat. Armed with their party symbol -- brooms -- a group of 40-50 AAP workers had barely reached the BJP office when activists of the party’s youth wing took them by surprise. Armed with lathis and rods, BJP activists started showering blows on them.
The AAP workers were beaten mercilessly until the police intervened. “It seems that BJP activists had been tipped off about the AAP’s plan to stage a demonstration outside their office. Even before AAP workers could reach the gates of the BJP office, yuva morcha activists were seen with sticks in their hand,” said an eyewitness on the condition of anonymity. At least half a dozen AAP workers received grievous injuries and had to be rushed to the local civil hospital. Police are yet to lodge a formal complaint against the culprits. AAP workers have gathered at the Hazratganj police station to demand action against BJP activists involved in the attack.
“We are asking AAP leaders to give a written complaint. As soon as we get one, we will register a FIR,” said police. From PTI: AAP activists allegedly attacked the BJP office with bricks, drawing retaliation as the saffron party workers, carrying canes, took to the streets. Several people were mercilessly beaten up by canes after being knocked down on the road as rival groups chased each other away. Shirts of some activists were ripped off and many protesters were pinned down on the road before lathi blows rained on them. National council member of AAP, Vaibhav Maheshwari, told PTI that his party members were staging a "peaceful" demonstration. BJP activists hurled bricks on them from inside their party office and attacked them with lathis, he claimed. Maheshwari claimed an AAP activist was seriously injured while four to five others were also wounded.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell - Manoj Mitta on how the SIT let off Modi: ‘Crucial Evidence Has Fallen Through The Cracks’Javed Anand - Why oppose a Communal Violence Bill?
