Coming out in support for Shakuntala Gamlin, whose appointment as the acting Chief Secretary turned into a full-blown war between the Delhi Chief Minister and the lieutenant Governor, people of the North-East staged a protest outside Delhi Secretariat saying she was being used as a “punching bag” and made the “scapegoat” in political hauteur.
They staged a protest and later handed over a memorandum to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “We are hurt by the allegations being made by the Government in public. Government should treat everyone equally,” one of the protesters, JT Tagam, said.
Protesters blamed Kejriwal of being “partial” to the woman IAS officer from the North-East. “First Government recommended her name and later objected to her appointment and then accused her of favouring power companies in a public rally before the media. The Chief Minister should publicly apologise to her,” another protester said.
People from the community also said that “attacking” statement by the Delhi Government and Kejriwal towards a lady officer was unexpected and uncalled for. Dragging a lady officer from the North-East in a political tussle was unacceptable and should have been avoided.
“She is discriminated against in many ways and this is downright character assassination. She is being used as a punching bag in a tussle between the lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister. Kejriwal has been making allegations without any proof. We stand by Shakuntala Gamlin. By targeting her, he has targeted the entire community. The Chief Minister should conduct an enquiry and if she is found guilty, we are ready to accept the Government’s decision. She is being made a scapegoat,” said Taba Doni, president of Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union in Delhi.
Protesters said the Government’s decision of not appointing her as the Chief Secretary was illogical and it should have checked her service background before recommending her name for a senior bureaucratic post. They said they would also write to the President and Prime Minister in this regard.
The confrontation over the appointment of Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary of Delhi had turned into a full-blown war between the ruling AAP and Jung with Kejriwal alleging that the l-G was trying to take over the administration. Despite Kejriwal’s strong opposition, Jung had appointed her to the post on Friday.