I may be ‘sweetest terrorist’: Kejriwal responds to Vishwas’ separatist charge

BATHINDA/ FEROZEPUR: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said those who work for people were being labelled as terrorists to settle political scores ahead of the Punjab elections.

In a statement, Kejriwal rubbished the charges levelled by one of the AAP founders and poet Kumar Vishwas that the former was a supporter of Punjabi separatists.

Terming the accusation as “kavi ki kavita”, Kejriwal asked the central government and its agencies if he was a terrorist and separatist, why he had not been arrested in all these years?

Vishwas, who supported Kejriwal during the Anna Hazare agitation and became part of the Aam Aadmi Party, recently claimed that the Delhi chief minister was supportive of the Khalistan movement in Punjab.

Following his claim, Kejriwal came under attack from both the Congress and BJP with Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeting the AAP national convener citing allegations made by Vishwas.

Kejriwal, however, reacted to the claim, saying: “Opposition parties are calling me terrorist. I am the first terrorist in the world who builds schools and hospitals for the people. I am the world’s first “sweetest terrorist”.

“All this is being done to stop the party from gaining power in Punjab and to stop Bhagwant Mann from becoming the chief minister,” said the AAP chief in a detailed video message posted on his Twitter and Faceboook page.

Mocking Narendra Modi, Kejriwal said Rahul Gandhi started calling him a terrorist and interestingly the Prime Minister for the first time followed Rahul Gandhi. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi took the same line and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal too toes the same line, he added.

“Yeh sab nautanki ho rahi hai. What were the central agencies doing all these years... why all agencies failed to know about it... why they woke up only after the poet made the utterances. I have learned that the National Investigating Agency is planning to register a criminal case against me,” said Kejriwal.

Terming himself as the “chela” (disciple) of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, Kejriwal said the corrupt were scared of him. “This had also happened a century ago when imperial forces had called Bhagat Singh a terrorist and now I am being called a separatist, who wants to divide the country. There are two types of terrorists, one those who scare away people and ones who scare away dishonest persons. I am if the second type and feeling it, all corrupt (politicians) have joined hands against us,” he said.

During his whirlwind tour of Jalalabad, Fazilka and Abohar assembly constituencies on Friday, Kejriwal pledged to provide basic amenities such as water to each and every village. On the education front, Kejriwal claimed to replicate the Delhi model in Punjab. He also promised 24-hour power supply, besides improving health infrastructure in the border state.