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Delhi police arrest man who allegedly slapped, threw ink at Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar
On May 18, the arrested accused, along with others, slapped Kumar and threw ink at him. When AAP Councillor tried to intervene, the attackers threatened her.
The Delhi police on Tuesday arrested a 41-year-old man for allegedly slapping Congress candidate from northeast Delhi, Kanhaiya Kumar, last week, when he campaigned for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Chhaya Sharma in the New Usmanpur area.
On May 18, the arrested accused, along with another man, slapped Kumar and threw ink at him. When Sharma tried to intervene, the attackers also threatened her.
Two men — Daksh and Annu Chaudhary — attacked Kumar as he was leaving Sharma's office.
Kumar alleged that the attackers were affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said they were the “right hand men” of Northeast Delhi’s sitting MP, Manoj Tiwari.
The incident happened in the evening when a group of AAP and Congress supporters, along with councillors, were with Kumar. Videos showed a man with a long beard, wearing a black shirt, shouting “Kanhaiya bhaiya zindabad” as he approached Kumar. He had a garland and a packet of rose petals in his hands and it seemed like he was going to place the garland on Kumar's neck. Instead, he threw ink on Kumar, and another man slapped him. Kumar's supporters then surrounded the attackers.
Sharma filed a complaint in the incident with the Delhi police. Speaking to Indian Express, she said, “The person who did this was sitting next to Manoj Tiwari in a meeting. When I rushed to protect Kanhaiya, they manhandled me and threatened to kill me and my husband.”
Read Here: Attack planned by BJP, says Kanhaiya Kumar
After the incident, Kumar told Indian Express, “There is a limit that must not be crossed, even when it comes to politics; you cannot attack a woman due to your political affiliations. I condemn this incident… we have voted for you (Tiwari) twice then you must uphold dignity in your position. If I have committed a felony, then you must arrest me but circulating fake videos and sending goons is not done.”
Speaking at a gathering later, he said, “You can try to stop me as much as you like, but I have the blood of freedom fighters running through my veins. When we are not scared of the British, there is no way we are going to be threatened by these people… They think people will just continue suffering their injustices, but the people are now going to answer them. They send their goons, attack women, and then talk about ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.’ They have done this in Surat, in Gandhinagar, where candidates made videos while crying because they had sent goons to their houses. But I would like to tell them that I am Kanhaiya Kumar, and your dirty tactics are not going to scare me.”
Why the attack?
In an exclusive interview with India Today, the accused said they attacked Kumar for the “anti-national slogans” raised by him during the 2016 speech at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
“We decided to slap Kanhaiya Kumar the day we heard his speech (at JNU). What slogan did he raise at JNU? Everyone had seen that he raised slogans in support of Afzal Guru and against the Indian Army. Kanhaiya raised the slogan 'Bharat tere tukde honge' (India will be broken into pieces). He also said that soldiers rape women in Kashmir. We then decided that we should teach a lesson to such a person. We went there as planned. We had gone only to slap and throw ink on him. We have nothing to do with any party nor have we worked on anyone's advice. Attacking Kanhaiya is not breaking the law,” they said.
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