Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has taken aim at the government on the social media platform X over police action against the huge crowd of young protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
What Kejriwal accused the government of
In his post, Kejriwal claimed that lakhs of youths from across the country have gathered at Jantar Mantar, but instead of hearing their demands, the government is having them lathi-charged. He called this wrong and directly appealed to the government, saying these young people are children of this very country who have taken to the streets seeking justice. In his post he wrote, "Drop the ego and listen to them." His post also carried a link related to the scene on the ground.
Weeks of simmering protest at Jantar Mantar
This standoff has been building for weeks. The Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, has been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar since early June, and alongside it, activist Sonam Wangchuk has been on an indefinite hunger strike since the last week of June. According to reports, by mid-July he had been fasting for roughly twenty days, drawing growing support from opposition leaders and film personalities. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also wrote an open letter to the protesting youths on July 15. By July 19, reports described the ground situation as having grown far more tense, with the crowd spread across roughly a kilometre outside the entry gate, many protesters sleeping on the open ground, and Delhi Police keeping a close watch on every movement.
About Gaya
Gaya, the Bihar city that has come up in reports around this episode, is a district headquarters and the state's second-largest city, where Magahi is the regional language. It holds historical significance across the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths and finds mention in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The city is ringed on three sides by the rocky hills of Ramshila, Pretshila and Brahmayoni, while the Falgu river flows to its east, drawing large numbers of Indian and foreign tourists throughout the year.
