Lucknow | Terming the developments in West Bengal a cause of concern for all citizens regardless of their political affiliation, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Tuesday wrote an open letter to the people urging them “protect and preserve” constitutional values and the institutions charged with upholding them.
In an unprecedented development on Sunday, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and briefly detained.
Hours after the incident, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest “insults” she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and claimed the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant.
The Samajwadi party chief, in the letter released here, said, “The attack on the state of West Bengal is not only an attack on the values and tenets of the Constitution but also an attack on the dreams of our founding fathers.”
“They are same founding fathers, who the BJP is desperate to co-opt into their narrative because they have no link whatsoever to the Constitution and therefore the values its espouses.”
“In fact, they stood in direct opposition to the views espoused by the BJP and their ideological forefathers – the RSS,” he said.
Yadav said “two and a half men – and a media that has been corrupted by their sycophantic portrayal are on the brink of destroying our nation and everything it stands for”.
“Our sovereignty and natural resources are sold to famous few industrialists, who fund the BJP as they deliver policies that benefit them. Every minority in the country lives in fear of lynch mobs fuelled by rumours spread by BJP IT cells – Internet Terrorist cells,” he said.
The SP president alleged that in last 24 hours it is clear that the democratic republic is being systematically hollowed out and destroyed.
“The formula is simple – unfriendly politicians in power are to be embroiled in legal battles, buried under false charges, attacked as anti-national and seditious, and their states set aflame using sectarian methods at the disposal of the government.”
Asserting that the country needed strong men, he said, “Our prime minister is far from a strong man. To quote his own colleague Nitin Gadkari – ‘one who cannot manage his home cannot manage the country’.”
Referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Yadav said, “Here is a woman who was dragged from Jyoti Basu’s office by the hair for demanding action against rapists and put in jail. Here is a woman who defeated the old patriarchy of the communist party in their bastion. Here is a woman who took on large, industrial interests so that farmers would not lose their land.”
He said in the interest of the country, the “rule of law requires strong institutions, not weak officers who are weaponised against political opponents and that elections should be fought at the polling booths not using midnight raids, trumped up charges and lies.”
Calling on the judiciary, the CBI, IAS, IPS and other institutions to prevail against the constant attacks on them, Akhilesh suggest them to “fight back with integrity”.
“I call on them to stand up for due process so that they do not act as the election agents for a particular party,” he said.
Yadav ended the letter saying, “You cast your vote for those who can represent you best but please do not allow this motley group to erode the very basis of our country.”
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