It's been more than a couple of years since the cult of Arvind Kejriwal first entered & then dominated, discussions on prime time English-Language-TV Media in India.
On the fourth of this month, he agreed to an interview by an underrated & under-watched English language news channel, 'news X'.
13:21 to the end, constitutes the most revealing part of this interview.
Why is this important and what is wrong with Kejriwal's behaviour ie. tantrums, smears, paranoia and hissy fits?
We see two questions go unanswered here:
First, is the question on terrorism emanating from pakistan. This is a threat to all parts of India, including of course good ole Delhi. As the interviewer rightly points out, pak jihadis have attacked Delhi before. If this gentleman(Kejriwal) wants to, or hopes to become the next CM of Delhi, surely he must have an opinion at the bare minimum on this issue, if not an informed one. The interviewer wanted to understand his world view. Apparently, he(Kejriwal) has none. If he does, he didn't do a brilliant job of elucidating it, did he?
This kind of a seemingly insular, frog-in-a-well approach doesn't suit a potential or wannabe CM.
Really, there are many more issues apart from corruption. National security & counter-terrorism linked with our foreign policy, for example, are imp issues.
He mentions a 'clean' government and a 'vibrating' economy, as 2 necessary conditions to *ensure* that 'neighbours don't mess around with you'. Apparently, Hafiz Saeed & the Jihad factory will be humbled into singing Kumbaya my lord with the people of India as soon as the above 2 conditions are satisfied.
Picture this conversation, ladies and gentlemen-
Hafiz Saeed(HS):Come on get up, it's time to intentionally shoot civilians across the border in defence of our faith
Young Jihad Recruit:Let me sleep, they have a clean government now. And don't you know, their economy vibrates?
HS:Fair enough, Jihad cancelled.
Does this make sense? Or is it that Mr.Kejriwal has built a narrative around the abovementioned 2 conditions and can't see beyond them? Actually, only 1 condition - A Clean Government. Everything else, he believes stems from the absence or presence of this. Mr. Kejriwal is an intelligent, seemingly financially incorruptible man & yes, his rivals aren't doing very well on this front. But I don't see any of them dismissing in a paranoid manner these kind of questions, leave alone with the unveiled contempt demonstrated in this interview. And dismissing them - & all election polls by the media - as conspiracies, just makes him look worse. This sort of behaviour becomes even more disappointing since it comes from the AAP. This is because in their case there exists no political tenure we can look at & attempt to judge on various variables. They must look to answer more questions, with more in depth answers than their rivals to make their case to the discerning voter.
Second, is the question on the HM(Shinde) writing a letter to all CMs urging them to not wrongfully detain Muslim youth(As per a certain narrative, the police in India really has nothing better to do. Read this article by Praveen Swami for more on how the 'Muslim youth being wrongfully detained deliberately due to religious prejudice' narrative is an example of how to be economical with the truth).
The HM - more than a few believe - is guilty of pushing a victimhood narrative among Muslims along religious lines & fear-mongering.
If Mr.Kejriwal wishes to become the next CM, as all his fans do, he must explain his stance on this. Even if Kejriwal doesn't wish to become the next CM, we know that he is the numero uno in & the turup ka ikka of, the AAP. So shouldn't he have the capability to explain where he stands on these imp issues?
Actually, we do know what Mr.Kejriwal thinks about the 'Muslims are victims of police brutality' narrative. *This* is what he thinks about it. He agrees! So clearly, when it's scare-mongering time, security related issues in the context of Delhi can be & are discussed. No conspiracies visible on these kind of occasions. This, even though they, as he points out in the interview, 'are in the hands of the central government'.
*This* comes to mind!
Every year, there are many more non Muslims who are killed in encounters, but apparently, 'unbiased enquiries' are necessary when Muslim extremists have been encountered or even convicted?
Could it be that these demands for enquiries are apt illustrations of 'communal politics'? I certainly think so.
In Hindi -
"Sawaal khade kiye ja rahe hai'' kahte hai Sri Sri Arvind ji. Bhai, sawaal is liye khade kiye ja rahe hai taaki ek mazhab ke maan ne waalo ko daraya ja sake. Yeh to iske barabar hua, ke musalmano ko kaha jaye, "Tumko sab maarna chahate hai, aur hum hi hai jo aap ko bachaenge in nirdayi policewaalon aur doosri party walon se. Hume vote do, nahi to doosre tumhe jaan se marenge". -
I have & will not, provided/provide the English language translation of the above because it doesn't do these sentiments justice.
Mr.Kejriwal is not a politically incorruptible man. As Anna Hazare pointed out some time ago, he is not motivated by a desire for wealth, but by a desire for power. Nothing wrong with either of those things per se. It is how this happens and why, that is important! And religion based fear-mongering politics, is corruption.
After these 2 questions & more are asked, Mr.Kejriwal is visibly annoyed & demonstrates this by questioning the anchor's motives in conducting the entire interview & walking out. Perhaps it was the clear headedness of the anchor and his(Kejriwal's) bizarre pointlessness on issues obviously outside his ambit that frustrated him into this smear attempt.
Of course the media can be biased. Most newspapers & News channels across the world have biases. If Mr.Kejriwal doesn't wish to answer questions from individuals in the media whose motives he questions -and he has every right to protest against people he perceives as prejudiced - he & his party must demonstrate the existence of most, if not all of these 4 common conditions for refusing to engage in a conversation with a section of the media:
a)The lack of disclosure of bias
b)Distortion of facts
c)Irrelevance of questions
d)Ignorance, deliberate or otherwise, of already given answers to these questions by him or his party.
So, brace yourselves then: The abovementioned 2 questions are/were not irrelevant & did not contain any distortion of facts. The interviewer however was vaguely guilty of ignoring already taken stances by Mr. Kejriwal on issues linked with the HM's letter to CMs. As explained earlier, he seems to buy the 'extra police brutality on Muslims' line. One wonders why he didn't use this opportunity on national news TV to further this pov of his.
[Edit on 14-11-2013 - After Mr. Kejriwal's letter to Muslims & meeting with hardliner clerics, it seems clear that his brief is to talk only corruption on news channels while furthering the religious victimhood narrative outside newsrooms. More privately, though still not in a secretive fashion. There can be really no other explanation for this phenomenon.]
What comes across, is that Mr.Kejriwal - when he isn't guilty of fear mongering for votes from religious groups - has hardly any other issue apart from corruption on his mind. It has been pointed out to me that his fans - who see him as some sort of Indian Che Guevara - see this as single-mindedness. Fair enough. But for now, he is either too idealistic on some issues like counter-terrorism & too realistic on others, like pushing narratives of perennial victimhood of religious groups blaming away their socio-economic backwardness on everything & everyone, political & apolitical but them. A leader requires moderate doses of both, Idealism & Realism.
Also, Prashant Bhushan's - who is an imp part of the AAP - unnecessarily democratic to the point of being spectacularly masochistic views on Kashmir are well known. So is his ideological support for Maoists.
So who shall triumph in Delhi this time? Known Devils or Unknown Angels?
We shall find out soon enough, what the people of Delhi think about this eccentric party.
