‘Was Wrong to Make Speech’: C M Arvind Kejriwal Apologises
NEW DELHI: Two days after a farmer hanged himself in front of thousands of people at his rally in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has apologized for not stopping the event and making a speech after the incident.
“I think I was wrong, I should not have spoken. I didn’t think of it at that time. I apologise if I hurt anyone,” Mr Kejriwal, who has confronted searing criticism over the past two days, said in an interview to news agency ANI today.
“No one expected him to actually commit suicide,” headmitted.Gajendra Singh, a 42-year-old farmer from Rajasthan, climbed a tree and hanged himself in full public view at the rally organized by Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to oppose the central government’s proposal to make it easier to buy farmland for development projects.
In the 25 minutes that Gajendra was on the tree, no AAP volunteer or policeman was seen stopping him. The Delhi Police has said in an FIR or police complaint that AAP workers didn’t cooperate in saving the man and even clapped and cheered, which instigated the farmer.
Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders were on stage when the man tied a noose out of his white scarf and stepped off a branch. After he was taken to hospital, Mr Kejriwal made a speech in which he blamed the Delhi police.
Mr Kejriwal today clarified that no AAP leader made any announcement from stage on the man because it would have led to chaos.
“When he was brought down, we heard he was alive. He was taken to hospital. I started speaking…I said that I didn’t feel like talking. Instead of one hour, I spoke only for 10 minutes,” Mr Kejriwal said, claiming that he had spent two sleepless nights.
He, however, went on to denounce the “drama” over the incident and said politicians and the media should focus on farmer suicides and how to stop them.
