Sibal Slams Bhagwat’s Regime Change Remark, Says India Seeks Democratic Govt Change

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's recent regime change remarks, saying India wanted a change of government through democratic means and accusing the Sangh leader of refusing to acknowledge this. Sibal said the country needed change and that the people of India had decided there would be one.

When, how, and most peacefully it will happen, only time will tell, he said at a press conference here.

Sibal said he was surprised that Bhagwat had compared calls for regime change in India with recent developments in Nepal, Bangladesh, Albania and France.

"I am surprised that he even made that comparison, because as far as those kinds of open revolts are concerned, ultimately they brought about a kind of violence which none of us support," Sibal said.

"What India wants is a change of government through democratic means, and I think that Mohan Bhagwat understands that, but yet is not willing to acknowledge it," he added.

Sibal said the young people who gathered at Jantar Mantar held peaceful protests and did not carry weapons or stones. They also went on a hunger strike, he said.

He alleged that any violence during the protest was caused by outside agencies and questioned the circumstances in which a truck carrying stones was found at the site.

"Nobody has yet inquired as to where that truck came from or how that truck came, because the police and law and order are under the control of the Union through the Lieutenant Governor," the Independent MP said. Sibal said the regime change being sought was a change of government and the existing political dispensation through democratic means.

He also accused the RSS of having participated in a previous regime change by supporting Arvind Kejriwal, which, he claimed, contributed to the fall of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

"It was through the legal process -- in other words, there was an election, (Narendra) Modi ji came to power, and we have suffered 12 years of power under Modi ji, and RSS has benefited greatly," he said.

Questioning Bhagwat's assertion that regime change would not bring about fundamental change, Sibal asked why the RSS had supported Kejriwal in the past.

Calling Bhagwat's remarks about regime change in countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal a bogey , Sibal accused the RSS chief of avoiding issues confronting India.

He referred to the Cockroach Janata Party's protests over the state of school education and alleged that Bhagwat had remained silent on the issue because the RSS benefited from the BJP-led government.

Sibal also accused Bhagwat of ignoring alleged manipulation of voter lists, incursions in Arunachal Pradesh and eastern Ladakh, and the detention of young people, academics and opposition leaders.

He questioned Bhagwat's remarks about foreign forces attempting to destabilise India, saying unemployment and inadequate educational opportunities were among the country's pressing concerns.

"It is the middle-class children out there who don't get employment; it is the poor people who don't get any opportunities in education," Sibal said.

Bhagwat, speaking at the RSS's annual Vijayadashami Utsav in Nagpur on Tuesday, had said agitations seeking regime change did not resolve fundamental problems and could become instruments of political interests, deepening social divisions.

Citing recent developments in Bangladesh, Nepal, France and Albania, he said forces pursuing their own interests used regime change to alter political circumstances, rarely achieving the intended results. They claim that changing a regime will change the situation, but that has never really happened, Bhagwat had said.

In his presser, Sibal also hit out at the government over Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapur's remarks that a situation arose "where face-off happened at several locations in Arunachal and it still continues".

"You can remove a statement from YouTube, but you can't remove those people who have occupied our territory and throw back and confront those people. It is unfortunate that this has happened because you have no bargaining capacity," Sibal said slamming the government.

He also attacked the government over US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to India.

"Can you imagine a situation where our Foreign Minister goes to a state in the United States and the Secretary of State goes there to meet him, and he doesn't meet the President or meet the press? It's very demeaning," he said.

"It is unfortunate that our Foreign Minister had to travel there, go to Mumbai, meet him, and an announcement was made by Marco Rubio, along with an announcement that 99% of the trade deal is complete," he added.