The attack on the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a poll rally in which a man climbed on to his vehicle and slapped him is a reflection on how much our society has plummeted in terms of civil behaviour. The tensions of a hard-fought election are no excuse for anyone, regardless of his political affiliations, to launch an attack on a politician who is not only canvassing before an election but is also a high functionary of state holding office as an elected representative of the people. An unusual response to the ugly incident defacing the very concept of democracy has been seen in political leaders of many parties indulging in a blame game than condemning outright the incident. And Kejriwal has withstood a number of such attacks — nine by his count — with various missiles like ink, chilli powder, shoes and eggs for him to believe that he is being unfairly targeted in a series of events.
Even as the police investigation may have been trying to establish the miscreant’s party affiliations, AAP, the ruling Delhi party, had dragged the Prime Minister and the BJP party president into the debate. And to boot, a Congress leader has hinted at the ‘slap’ having been staged by the AAP for drawing sympathy and political gain.
