Racism, Sexism and Unprecedented Anarchy in New Delhi

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Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, won a great deal of praise during the recent state assembly elections, not only for the outstanding performance of his newly formed Aam Aadmi Party, but also for the clean democratic principles that he claimed to hold. However, in light of the drama now unfolding in the national capital region, produced and directed by the Chief Minister himself, the veracity of his purportedly upright principles has fallen into question.

Kejriwal first gained national attention while fighting against corruption and for the Jan Lokpal Bill in Anna Hazare’s movement. However, he soon broke away to create a political party on account of his belief that it was only through government, and not through protest, that change could be achieved.

The often contrarian leader of the Aam Aadmi Party has now increasingly begun to contradict his own positions. This weekend, he announced through Twitter that he would stage a sit in outside the Home Minister’s office, adding that he urged “supporters and public not to come” in view of preparations for the upcoming Republic Day ceremony this Sunday. Nevertheless, the following day he declared, “I want everyone to come and join us for this protest,” completely disregarding his previous statement and any regard for Republic Day. Kejriwal went on to proclaim, during an impromptu speech precipitated by police preventing him from reaching the Home Ministry, that “I am [an anarchist]” and that he would “create anarchy for [Home Minister] Shinde.”

The Chief Minister’s flip-flopping aside, his party’s increasingly anarchist actions are extremely worrisome. It is indeed one such incident that has led to the Chief Minster, his cabinet and MLAs protesting on the streets, govern...

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Racism and sexism are realities in India as much as they are in the rest of the world. However, instead of ousting Bharti for his sexist, racist, anarchist, and indeed criminal behavior, he has defended him on an unprecedented scale. Whether on account of the wounded pride of his minister or the ensuing puncture to his own ego, Arvind Kejriwal is bringing the capital to a standstill. Not only is he refusing to acknowledge the criminal conduct of his minister, he is calling for the suspension of the policemen who refused to raid and arrest women without a warrant, on account of their having defied a member of his cabinet in following the law.

People across the length and breadth of India genuinely believed that the Aam Aadmi Party would be able to bring about change in Delhi; little did they know the change would be from general stability to outright pandemonium.

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