On the 30th of May, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal claimed that his weight decreased sharply during a month in Tihar jail after he was arrested in the Delhi Liquor Scam case. Kejriwal claimed that his body weight dropped by 7 kgs suggesting that he might be suffering from a “serious disease”. Tihar Jail authorities, however, soon busted Kejriwal’s lies and gave details of Kejriwal’s body weight on 6 different days from 1 April to 9 May, which show his weight fell from 65 kg to 64 kg, which had gone up to 66 kg in between.
After his weight loss lies were busted, the Delhi Chief Minister came up with the “torture” claim. On the 31st of May, Kejriwal alleged that attempts are being made to ‘silence’ him adding that he was ‘tortured’ inside jail. He also accused the jail authorities of denying him insulin injections.
“They have made several attempts to silence me but they have not been successful. When I was in jail, they tortured me in different ways. They stopped my medicines. I have been a diabetes patient for 20 years, and every day I take insulin injections. In jail, they stopped my insulin injection. If the sugar is high for such a long period, it can affect the liver and kidneys. I have no idea what they wanted, or why they did what they did. I was in jail for 50 days, I lost six kg weight…I am still not gaining weight, doctors say this could be a sign of some big underlying medical condition,” Kejriwal said.
Interestingly, AAP MP Sanjay Singh had last month claimed that there is a threat to Kejriwal’s life in Tihar Jail after a scuffle between two groups of inmates. Singh alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched against Arvind Kejriwal.
“When I say that Arvind Kejriwal’s life is in danger, a conspiracy is being hatched against him and they are playing with the life of Arvind Kejriwal, no one believes it. Who will be answerable if such an incident happens with Arvind Kejriwal in jail? They [BJP] are vicious and dangerous people,” Sanjay Singh, who is out on bail in a Delhi liquor scam said.
मुझे परसों सरेंडर करना है। माननीय सुप्रीम कोर्ट का बहुत-बहुत शुक्रिया – CM @ArvindKejriwal l LIVE https://t.co/bWwGqHFdQM
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) May 31, 2024
It is pertinent to note that AAP is repeating the same script it performed during former Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain’s incarceration. In May last year, Arvind Kejriwal and several AAP leaders criticised the Tihar Jail authorities and the Central government for alleged ‘mistreatment’ meted out against Satyendar Jain inside the jail after his health deteriorated. However, a senior Tihar Jail official said Jain’s health could be deteriorating due to his “food habits and stress levels”.
The Aam Aadmi Party supremo, however, blamed the Bhartiya Janata Party and its “ego” for Jain’s poor health condition and said, “People of Delhi can see the ego and injustice of the BJP government. People and God are with us in this struggle. This battle against cruelty, injustice and dictatorship will continue. We are the followers of Bhagat Singh.
Interestingly, while Aam Aadmi Party was claiming that Satyendar Jain was being ill-treated in Tihar Jail, Several videos emerged from within Tihar Jail in 2022 featuring Satyendar Jain getting VIP treatment. Some of these videos showed him receiving massages, some depicted him conducting “darbar” (a court-like gathering), and others showed him eating food from outside. In one video, he was even seen sitting with the suspended jail superintendent.
After the release of these videos and the court’s strict approach, VIP treatment in the jail was discontinued. Satyendar Jain accused jail officials of threatening him. Recently, Jain requested to be shifted to a different cell, citing concerns about isolation. Following this, two inmates were shifted to his neighbouring cell while adhering to the rules. After the incident came to light, a show-cause notice was also issued to the Tihar Jail superintendent.
Is BJP ‘torturing’ jailed AAP leaders through Tihar Jail authorities? Who runs Tihar Jail?
The Aam Aadmi Party in its desperation to accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central government of vendetta politics against the AAP and its leaders by ‘torturing’ them in Tihar Jail, has been lying through its teeth. While AAP claims that the Modi government is tormenting and trying to silence Kejriwal through Tihar Jail’s administration, the jail does not even come under the Central government.
In fact, Tihar Jail comes under the Delhi government’s Prisons Department. According to the official website of Tihar Prisons, “Till 1966, the administrative control of Delhi Jails was with the Government of the state of Punjab. The same was transferred to the Delhi Administration, Delhi in 1966.”
It now raises the question before AAP leaders that even as Tihar Jail’s administration comes under the Delhi government why are they claiming that the Central government is conspiring against Kejriwal or mistreating him and Satyendar Jain? Even if they feel that there is a threat to Kejriwal’s life or he was being ‘tortured’ in jail, how is the Central government to be blamed for it and not the AAP government in Delhi?
Interestingly, in March last year, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj while addressing a crowd boasted that there is nothing to worry about in going to jail since jails in the national capital come under the Delhi government.
“The jail belongs to the Delhi government, there is no problem in going to jail, some of our leaders are in jail, there is a lot of fun in jail…” Bharadwaj said.
The jail belongs to the Delhi government, there is no problem in going to jail, some of our leaders are in jail, there is a lot of fun in jail.
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) March 3, 2023
– AAP Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj to his party workers. pic.twitter.com/VvnCkwcATH
Now, how can jails ‘belonging’ to the Delhi government with the Aam Aadmi Party in power ‘torture’ the Delhi CM in Tihar Jail at the BJP-led Central government’s whims? Even if for argument’s sake it is assumed that there is indeed a threat to Kejriwal’s life or he is being ‘tortured’ inside the jail, isn’t it the Delhi government and Kejriwal’s own failure?
Conspicuously, the AAP leaders including CM Kejriwal are blatantly lying and misleading the people to garner support and sympathy and to polish Kejriwal’s farcical ‘modern-day Bhagat Singh’ image.
