New Delhi:
Law Minister Salman Khurshid has told NDTV that his recent remarks on activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal have been misunderstood and misrepresented. He has also said that he never threatened Mr Kejriwal and claimed that the controversy over his remarks has been created by the latter "to keep his politics alive."
Mr Kejriwal, who launched his political party earlier this month, has been demanding the minister's resignation for alleged embezzlement of funds by his NGO. Adamant on his demand, he has also said that he will campaign against the minister in his home turf of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh next month.
Reacting to Mr Kejriwal's proposed visit to his constituency, the minister had recently said, "I don't give a visa to go there but it's a long road to Farrukhabad. It is 300 kilometres away (from Delhi). He can get there...but how will he return? I am trained as a lawyer...to work with ink and pens...but it is time to replace ink with blood." Mr Kejriwal has termed Mr Khurshid's remarks against him "gravely inappropriate." "My life is in God's hands, not Khurshid's," he said, and added in a dramatic post on Twitter that, "Even if I am killed, 100 Arvinds will replace me because India is determined to combat graft."
Defending his remarks, the Law Minister insists he wasn't threatening anyone. "I read one of the finest couplets of the Independence movement...I was inviting my head to be cut off...for my beliefs and my cause. I was not threatening anyone. The media didn't show the whole clip. Somebody wants to misunderstand me because that's their politics. Because if they don't, their politics is dead," he told NDTV, and added that "It was perceived that way because they must perceive something to keep their politics alive. But are you repudiating in this country today...Bismil's couplet...Are you repudiating Faiz who said so what if my pen is lost, I will dip my fingers in my own blood and write with it."
When asked what he meant when he said "how will he leave Farrukhabad?", the minister explained, "What will you leave with? If you come as my friend, you will receive a lot of goodwill. If you attack me, you will see the strength I have in the streets of Farrukhabad...after all I'm the MP...you will have to come back with baggage of repudiation and rejection."
Mr Kejriwal's campaign against the minister was initially based on a report that aired on a Hindi news channel which alleged the siphoning of 71 lakhs of funds sent to Mr Khurshid's NGO in Uttar Pradesh to help the differently-abled. This week, Mr Kejriwal produced his own "witnesses"- people who were listed as beneficiaries of Mr Khurshid's NGO said they had not received the equipment attributed to them in documents submitted by the trust.
But Mr Khurshid has refuted all allegations, and has ruled out his resignation. He has also filed a defamation suit against the Hindi news channel that aired the sting against him. At a press conference earlier this week, where he presented what he called proof of no financial wrongdoing at his NGO, Mr Khurshid lost his cool and launched a stinging counter-attack on the news channel.
When asked if he regrets what happened at the presser, the minister said he was provoked by some reporters. "Have you seen a press conference like that before, where reporters position themselves as though they were part of the heckling crowd?" he said. The minister also added, "Does the Law Minister have no reason to show he's upset, distressed and disturbed? I'm supposed to protect everyone under the law...if somebody is trying to show me as vulnerable and defeated, how will I protect the people?"
Earlier this week, some activists of India Against Corruption (IAC) and a journalist were allegedly manhandled in Farrukhabad when they were conducting a survey regarding allegations of financial irregularities in the trust run by the union minister and his wife. When asked about these reports, Mr Khurshid denied his involvement and said, "Did anyone stop you from coming here? How do I know what someone somewhere is doing? You want me to become a vigilante in Farrukhabad...instead of being the Law Minister here? Must I answer every little thing, every provocation...the media is not interested in seeing the good work being done there."
Arvind Kejriwal has said he would go to Farrukhabad on November 1. He has also urged his supporters to join him there in large numbers.