Kejriwal and his team end dharna as Centre offers to send two cops on leave
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led dharna at Rail Bhavan came to an abrupt end on Tuesday evening as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Delhi Police reached a compromise on former’s demand for the suspension of five police officers for their alleged dereliction of duty. However, instead of giving in to Kejriwal’s demands in toto, the Centre sent two police officers — Malviya Nagar SHO and PCR in-charge of Paharganj — on leave.
Nevertheless, while announcing to end the stir, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had slept on the road on Monday night and held cabinet meetings with his colleagues in his car, termed the compromise as a ‘victory of the people’. Although the two police officers have not been suspended, they will report to police lines of their concerned district.
In the meanwhile, the police on Tuesday arrested the accused in the Sagarpur case, where a 35-year-old woman was set ablaze by her in-laws.
Calling off the over 30-hour protest outside Rail Bhavan, Kejriwal said the l-G had appealed to him to end his protest keeping in mind the high security that the city will require with Republic Day barely a
few days ahead. “Keeping in mind the importance of Republic Day and the appeal made by the l-G, I call off this dharna. It is a victory of the people. For the first time, a CM, along with his entire Cabinet, sat on streets to demand action against police. Women in Delhi are unsafe... The l-G has accepted our demands partially. This is people’s victory. This is the first step towards ensuring
that the Delhi Police is accountable to the Delhi Government and to gain full statehood for Delhi,” he said.
He condemned police action against protesters, 11 of which were injured in the scuffle with the police.Earlier, appealing to Kejriwal to withdraw his agitation, lt-Governor Najeeb Jung had said the judicial enquiry into the alleged police inaction would be expedited.
“In view of the sacrosanct occasion of Republic Day and the perceived security situation, the ongoing protest/dharna may be withdrawn. The Judicial enquiry earlier ordered by the l-G would be expedited. In the meanwhile, SHO Malviya Nagar and In-charge of the Paharganj PCR van will be on leave,” read a statement released from the l-G’s office.
The Delhi Police had directed Kejriwal to end his protest by the evening of January 22 or move it to Jantar Mantar as security forces have to sanitise the entire area for Dress Rehearsal for Republic Day celebrations on January 23.
As Kejriwal and his Ministers refused to relent and often instigated their supporters, scores of agitators entered into scuffle with police officers forcing them to resort to lathi-charge. When AAP supporters tried to break barricades to reach the spot where the CM was sitting on a makeshift podium, police used mild force resulting in injury to over a dozen people, including three police officials and journalists.
Threatening to disrupt Republic Day celebrations, Kejriwal had on Monday ruled out any negotiations with the Centre to scale down the protest. With rains lashing the city on Tuesday morning, the day began with only a handful of supporters at Rail Bhavan roundabout. The Chief Minister remained confined within his car along with his wife. But as the day progressed, supporters swelled making it difficult for the police to manage the crowd.
Day two of Kejriwal’s dharna witnessed a charged atmosphere with tempers running high among the supporters. Even as the police barricaded the area from four sides, the situation throughout the day remained tense and often uncontrollable for the police. Around 3.30 pm, 200 AAP volunteers broke the barricades near the Constitution Club to reach to the dharna site.
In another incident outside Krishi Bhavan, agitated supporters pelted stones at policemen injuring two officials. Parliament Street Police have filed a case against AAP supporters for sitting on dharna defying Section 144.