New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's daughter Harshita on Wednesday became the latest person to back the CM as the Aam Aadmi Party continues to hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party, whose lawmaker called the AAP convenor a 'terrorist'.
"They say politics is dirty but it's a new low. Is it terrorism if health facilities are made free and brought to people? Is it terrorism if children are educated? Is it terrorism if electricity and water supply are improved?" Harshita Kejriwal, a chemical engineer from IIT Delhi, asked.
Kejriwal, too, recently held a press conference and asked similar questions. "Does a person become a terrorist by helping poor and fighting corruption?" the Delhi CM had asked, leaving the decision on the voters to decide whether they considered him their "son, brother or antankwadi (terrorist)".
The controversy began after BJP MP Parvesh Verma, at and election rally, said, "In Delhi, many 'natwarlals' and terrorists like Kejriwal are hiding. I don't understand if we should fight with terrorists in Kashmir or with terrorist Kejriwal in Delhi."
Miffed by the statement, the Aam Aadmi Party went into a huddle and called reporters to announce they would approach the Election Commission against Verma's remark. At the press conference, a visibly disturbed Kejriwal said, "I am a diabetic. I take insulin four times a day. Without food for four hours, patients collapse. Yet I sat on a fast twice — for 10 days and 15 days. I put my life at stake for the country. But they left no stone unturned to harass me. Yesterday, when I returned home, and spoke to my parents, they were unhappy. They know that Kejriwal is a staunch desh bhakt."
This led EC to gag the BJP MP for 96 hours. However, the leader remained defiant and chose another method to express his views. Staging a silent protest against the election panel's decision, Verma posted a video on his Twitter handle, where he could be seen sitting in a dark room lit with candles and making posters in which he accused AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of using words like "traitor", "General Dyer" and "Hitler" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The leader was later backed by Union minister Prakash Javadekar, who said there was enough evidence to prove that Kejriwal was a terrorist. Since then Kejriwal has been spotted on various media interviews, recalling how he fought for the country on insulin (as he is a diabetic) and sat on a dharna for Delhi.
The controversy soon turned into a religious debate with Kejriwal trying to draw lines between 'Hinduism' and 'Hindutva'. He even went on to recite Hanuman chalisa at a News18 event, which further came under attack by BJP motormouth leaders like Kapil Mishra and Yogi Adityanath.
On Wednesday, Harshita recalled 'the values' that were imparted by her father to further ask if it was "terrorism". "My father has always been in social services. I still remember he used to wake us (my brother, mother, grandparents and me) up at 6am, make us read Bhagwad Gita and sing 'Insaan se insaan ka ho bhaichara' song and teach us about it. Is this terrorism?" she said.
Kejriwal, too, asked what was wrong in reciting Hanuman chalisa and Bhagwad Gita. "How can that be considered as Hindutva? I hope BJP leaders also read Hanuman Chalisa because they don't seem like they know anything about it," he said.
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