Rahul: 'Do you have no shame?'

New Delhi: What might have been Rahul Gandhi's "two-minutes" with a grieving family on Wednesday became, in the words of former chief minister Omar Abdullah, a "huge self-goal" by the Narendra Modi government. Delhi police today chose to detain Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul when they tried to meet the relatives of the army veteran who committed suicide yesterday. Rahul was detained twice in a span of a few hours. The police also ran into charges that they beat up the family members of the ex-serviceman when they volunteered to meet Opposition politicians. The unusual action by Delhi police, who report to the Union home ministry, ended up turning a personal tragedy into a political tussle, triggering not only chaos in the heart of the capital but also cries of death of democracy. For some inexplicable reason, the police ensured maximum visibility of the detained Opposition figures by taking them from one police station to another, trailed by separate processions teeming with Congress and Aam Aadmi supporters. After being released the second time around 8.15pm, Rahul told reporters: "I only wanted to express condolences to the family, it would have taken two minutes. It would have been over in two minutes. But all the four gates of Ram Manohar Lohia hospital were closed. When the family members came out to meet me, they were dragged, beaten up and taken away to a police station." Rahul added: "This is not the way - locking up hospital, arresting people.... Arresting me is not an issue. But why did the police arrest the family members on such a day? I asked the police what the fault of the family members is. They said we are only following orders from the top. The minimum the government should do is accept its mistake and apologise to the family." Footage showed an angry Rahul snapping at a police officer: "Do you have no shame? Why did you people beat them up? They are the family members of a martyr. Their father has died." (See Page 4) "A new India is in the making, you have to identify it. What is happening in India today, you have to identify it. It is a result of their mentality. It is a particular type of mentality. It is an undemocratic type of mentality," Rahul added. The Congress released a video clip of the deceased soldier's son who said: "We came out (of the hospital) only to meet Rahul Gandhi. They rained blows on us. My brother, my brother-in-law were assaulted." The video was probably recorded on mobile phones by Congress leaders who were kept in the police station along with the family members of Ram Kishan Grewal, the ex-serviceman. Randeep Surjewala, who was with Rahul at the hospital and the police station, said the veteran's family members were abused and beaten up. Congress spokesperson R.P.N. Singh asked: "Why was the son who lost his father beaten up and locked up? The answer is that's the usual response of this government - crush whoever is not with you, whoever questions you." The Congress targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, declaring that democracy was in peril under his hegemony and today's incident was another example of the larger agenda for curtailing freedom. Rahul was first detained when he went to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital to meet the family members. The gates were locked and the police asked Rahul to leave, citing concerns over law and order and his own security. Rahul said: "They are telling me to go away from here and leave. I told you, this is the new India. Recognise it." At this point, the veteran's family members came out to meet Rahul but the police intervened, allegedly beat them up and took them to a police station. When Rahul reached the police station to meet them, he was detained. The relatives were shifted from there as they wanted to hand over the letters written by the deceased veteran to Rahul. The Congress leader was released after two hours. In the evening, when he came to know that the family members were kept in Connaught Place police station, he went there along with party colleagues like like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Maken, Kumari Selja and Ghulam Nabi Azad. But the police detained them again. While some of them were taken to Parliament Street police station, Rahul and a few senior leaders were taken to Tilak Nagar police station. Congress leaders like Ahmed Patel, Anand Sharma and Sheila Dikshit were present at the police station. Rahul was eventually released after 8pm as the controversy snowballed, dominating the electronic media. Rahul later said: "I urge the PM once again: soldiers should not have to struggle to claim what is their due." The Congress leader took up the issue forcefully at a time Modi was seeking to create a political discourse around soldiers after the "surgical strikes" in the run-up to key Assembly elections. Rahul had written a letter to the Prime Minister a few days ago, highlighting the alleged disconnect between the government's words and deeds. He referred to substantive issues like one rank, one pension, reduction in disability pension and lack of parity between civilian and military officials. The detentions also fuelled the intolerance narrative. Congress spokesperson R.P.N Singh said: "What we saw in the last two years is a clear design to shout down rivals with slurs and abuses, brand them anti-national and file cases against them. In the latest Madhya Pradesh jailbreak, legitimate questions were asked by the media. But ministers and senior BJP leaders condemned the culture of asking questions and against tried to dub them anti-national." RPN Singh rubbished the police logic of law and order, saying: "Rahul went there alone, not with a crowd. He would have met the family, expressed his condolences and returned. By detaining him illegally, the police showed where our democracy is going under Modi. The BJP does brazen politics on soldiers' sacrifices and we can't even condole the death of a soldier. It is a black day." Expressing shock at the police attitude, Azad said: "Since the BJP Gvernment came to power, democracy has finished and dictatorship has begun." Ahmed Patel said the government was creating obstacles to stop Rahul wherever he went. Anand Sharma said: "The anti-democratic instincts of this government are displayed daily, in different forms." Abdullah, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, tweeted around 8pm: "A meeting between Rahul Gandhi or the Delhi CM with the deceased veteran's family would have been a one news cycle story. Huge self goal by NDA Govt." When Shashi Tharoor drew a parallel with Indira Gandhi's arrest in 1979 and suggested that "this is the beginning" of the Congress's revival, Abdullah replied: "If this is how RG's (Rahul Gandhi's) detention is going to be sold to the people, it's unfortunate to say the least. This is about the dead serviceman, period."