The expose of communal undertones and secessionist agenda of the Shaheen Bagh protests seems to have compelled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to recalibrate his electoral strategy for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
As the seditious nature of the protest came to the light, an edgy Kejriwal, who had until now been non-committal on the issue of Shaheen Bagh protest, fearing backlash from his supporters, posted a tweet pinning the entire blame of the quagmire on the BJP.
शाहीन बाग़ में बंद रास्ते की वजह से लोगों को परेशानी हो रही है। भाजपा नहीं चाहती कि रास्ते खुलें। भाजपा गंदी राजनीति कर रही है। भाजपा के नेताओं को तुरंत शाहीन बाग़ जाकर बात करनी चाहिए और रास्ता खुलवाना चाहिए।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 27, 2020
In an attempt to legitimise the demands made by Shaheen Bagh protestors, Kejriwal put the onus of settlement on the BJP, asking them to quickly reach a solution so that the road blockades can be removed and commuters can be relieved of the distress they are facing due to the month-long protest. This statement of Kejriwal comes days after Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had publicly declared that he stood in solidarity with Shaheen Bagh protesters. In fact, a video had also surfaced where AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was spotted next to Imam. In the video, it can be clearly seen Khan asking whether people want to protest or prepare for Friday prayers in Mosques.
Kejriwal asserted that the distress and hardships commuters have to go through due to the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protests is not because of the mindless protesters wantonly encamping on the roads but it is because of BJP’s “bad politics” for not wanting to negotiate with the demonstrators.
The AAP supremo has asked the BJP leaders to visit Shaheen Bagh and have a discussion with the organisers of Shaheen Bagh, one of whom had revealed his seditious plans to divide the country.
On Saturday January 25, 2020, a video of the Shaheen Bagh mastermind and the Wire columnist, Sharjeel Imam had gone viral in which he was seen calling upon fellow Muslims to unite and cut-off Assam and the North-East from the rest of India. In his speech, he also ridiculed the secular appropriation of the Shaheen Bagh protests and enunciated in clear terms that the protests were Muslim in nature.
With elections approaching, Delhi CM, who was hitherto dormant in raising his discomfiture with regards to public inconvenience caused by month-long Shaheen Bagh protests, cunningly tried to appear as a champion of public grievance by voicing his concern for the commuters facing distress while at the same time steer clear of offending the protesters. It is to this end that Kejriwal shielded the anti-CAA protesters while blaming the BJP for the continued protests.
