It was 7:20 or so in the morning. I was still fast asleep when my mobile rang. I picked up the phone though half asleep. The person on the other side told me that Alka Lamba, an MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had been attacked and was bleeding profusely. I immediately jumped out of bed. It was raining very heavily. I called and spoke to her. She was shaken but very determined. I asked her to go to the hospital and have her wounds seen to. Alka Lamba had spent years in the Congress, but in December 2013, she joined AAP and successfully contested the Delhi assembly elections from the Chandni Chowk constituency.
It was a gloomy Sunday morning. I took my umbrella and drove all the way to Aruna Asaf Ali hospital. Alka was there, surrounded by party volunteers and a few policemen. Her head was bandaged and she was composed. She narrated the incident. She, with more than fifty volunteers, had gone to the nearby Hanuman temple. This area is overflowing with drug addicts and drug peddlers. On the anniversary of the 1942 Quit India movement, she had started a campaign against the drug menace in this area.
A day earlier, she had tweeted about this program and also called up the local SHO and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Madhur Verma, and sought security for the campaign as any attempt to fight the drug menace was fraught with risk. Mr Verma promised support. She reached the venue around 5 in the morning but there was no police. She waited for some time and when no police person was seen, she again called up DCP Verma who promised to do the needful immediately. The police reached the spot and in their presence, she started talking to people when suddenly a stone hit her on the head. Volunteers saw a young boy wrapped in a quilt trying to flee from the roof of a sweet shop. The boy was caught and handed over to the police. People from that area told me that they had cross-checked and that the sweet shop belonged to OP Sharma, a BJP MLA (he has denied this in multiple interviews).
I phoned DCP Verma again and apprised him about this fact; he said the shop owner was related to Mr. Sharma. I requested him to handle this carefully and asked that those responsible for the attack be identified. But I was shocked to see that 24 hours later, it was Alka who was booked for trespassing by police. The Police had apparently reached the conclusion that her allegations were false. Mr Sharma was not even questioned. Rather, a new video had surfaced in which Alka was seen to be throwing the cash register in the sweet shop from where the stone had been hurled at her.
Not only this, Mr Sharma called Alka names and threatened her with dire consequences if she attempted the same (a raid to highlight the drug menace) again. He said that the next time, she would "go back on a stretcher" and her "limbs would be broken". But nothing happened to him. No case. No questioning. In less than 24 hours, it was Alka who was held responsible for the incident.
Can a state be more brazen and more shameless?
Alka is the sixth AAP MLA to bear the brunt of the brutality of the Delhi Police. Every minor incident is blown out of proportion and false cases are slapped against them. I don't need to say yet again that the Delhi Police is under direct control of the central government, and the central government is led by none other than the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who, as Chief Minister of Gujarat was known for the fact that he seldom forgets or forgives those who are not his friends.
AAP's crime is that it dared to challenge the might of a leader and a party who in its nature is intolerant and leaves no space for dissent and disagreement. Fortunately or unfortunately, AAP is here to stay in Indian politics. We are not here to play a 20/20 match but a test match. A test match is a real test of skill, technique, talent and finally, of patience. We are aware that many lethal bouncers will be hurled at us, injuries will be inflicted on us, hands and limbs will be broken, and our souls will be brutalized. We know political brutalities will follow, and many of us either will be politically finished or physically damaged.
But the fight will continue. Of this, be sure.
(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.