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Kejriwal arrest sparks off global debate

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The arrest of the Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections sparked off an international debate with Germany becoming the first major global power to remind India that the Delhi chief minister has the right to "fair and impartial trial."

While the reaction from the global power took India by surprise, it however, hit back by lodging a strong protest over Germany's "interference" in India's "internal matter."

Taking note of Kejriwal's arrest, a German foreign ministry spokesman said - "We  assume and expect that the standards relating to the independence of Judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case," The German envoy Georg Enzweiler was summoned by Indian Foreign Ministry officials and was told that the German Foreign Ministry's remarks on Kejriwal's arrest were an interference in India's judicial process and any "biased assumptions" were "most unwarranted".

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said-"We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary."  He went on to add that "India is a vibrant and robust democracy with the rule of law. As in all legal cases in the country, and elsewhere in the democratic world, law will take its own course in the instant matter. Biased assumptions made on this account are most unwarranted."

However, this is the second time in the last fortnight, that India's domestic issues have sparked off a strong reaction from the global community.

As the Indian government issued notification for the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) , the US State Department expressed "concern" and said that it was "closely monitoring the implementation."

Again on March 20, US Senator Ben Cardin said that he was "deeply concerned" over the CAA notification by the Indian government  and "its potential  ramifications" for the Muslims in India. Earlier reacting sharply to a similar observation by the US State department, the MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaisawal called the US State department's comments "misplaced, misinformed and unwarranted."

The CAA notification provides fast track citizenship for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians fleeing persecution from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Muslims have not been included in this list. An author and associate professor of politics and public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, Maya Tudor in the 'Journal of Democracy' wrote - "..democracy watchdogs agree that today India resides somewhere in a nether region between full democracy and full autocracy."

She claimed that India was being classified as a "hybrid regime""-- that is, neither a full democracy nor a full autocracy.

As India seemed to be in mood to heed to sermons by the "öutsiders", the AAP has unleashed the Delhi chief minister's wife, Sunita to garner sympathy. Sunita is expected to hit the streets and campaign for the party and INDIA bloc in the national capital. In her first media interaction, Sunita read out a message from her husband.

In a message from the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody, the Delhi chief minister said "no bar can keep him inside and he will soon return. He also assured me that it has never happened that he failed to fulfil any promise.."  Playing the Hindutva card the Delhi chief minister appealed to the women to "visit temples and seek blessings for him."

While a legal battle ensued between the ED and the AAP, it was being revealed by Delhi Minister Atishi that Kejriwal's arrest stemmed from a statement by Aurobindo Pharma's owner, Sarath Chandra Reddy, who donated to BJP's electoral bonds.

It was alleged that Reddy was granted bail after he admitted his ties with Kejriwal. It may be recalled that Reddy reportedly donated  electoral bonds worth Rs 5 crore to the BJP in November 2022, five days after he was arrested by the ED in the liquor policy case.

Meanwhile the AAP leaders claimed that the party headquarters in the national Capital have been sealed and entries blocked. Senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that all access to the party office has been stopped by the Union government.

B. Sanjay is a senior journalist who covers the national political tug of war between the varying power centres in our fractious nation.
FIRST PUBLISHED
AAP
Lok Sabha
CAA
Kejriwal
BJP
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