When, in India, did we hear these kinds of views from any political leader fighting elections, before? And he actually talks about freedom of expression, so casually like it’s the most obvious thing in a democracy. Like Democracy is not possible without free speech. He says,
I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Do watch this interview (in Hindi).
Hoping to breach the Amethi ‘citadel’ (he points out that there should be no citadels in Democracy), Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas challenged Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to a debate.
At 17.20 in the video he says that while his views are ‘Nationalist’, party colleague Prashant Bhushan is Leftist, and Arvind Kejriwal is more of a Centrist, they all still respect each other, and he may disagree with them, but he would defend to death their right to disagree.
He explained why he has decided to fight from Amethi.
“The question is, Dimple Yadav, an inexperienced contestant, was elected unopposed from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat in the by-poll election in 2012. Why doesn’t BJP field a good contestant against her? It’s a big power club.”
Another link: The party spokesperson said the Aam Aadmi Party will field candidates against Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Mainpuri. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/aap-to-contest-uttar-pradeshs-all-80-lok-sabha-seats/444016-3-242.html
Updated to add: I am aware that I will find myself disagreeing with him (and others) on several issues – but this is one issue on which I do agree.
Related Posts:
“The rape is not an issue for AAP as the woman is not a voter.”
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-police-under-centre-not-state-aap-leader-s-comment-on-danish-gang-rape-exposes-doublespeak-471471
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I am waiting for the steps AK will take to make Delhi a safer place for women. Sheila Dixit lost her CM post just for that one reason, and AK got elected for making promises in that aspect.
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your post title is complicated.
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Yeah, at first I thought he had quoted from your blog directly 😀
Is there a translation for these videos? For the first time I’m really interested in politics and I find it hard to keep up. The scrappy hindi of a Rajinikant loving idli munching Tamilian only goes so far.
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🙂 I did look for a translation, he is a Hindi Professor and a poet 🙂 … there are other reports but I found no transcript, or translations. His response to all her questions is honest, simple powerful and all along very respectful towards those he disagrees with.
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For the very first three times I saw him on tv (which was a long time ago around the time of the Lokpal agitation), he came across as too rude and crude for a professor and a poet. I don’t think a person who could talk like that can actually change in character over time. Maybe this is just an image make-over before elections. He is one person from the AAP whom I dislike. But if he has quoted these lines, it is reason enough for you to feel happy.
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I really liked this interview IHM. He comes across very humble, honest and yet very articulate. That’s why it was sad that Mallika Sarabhai accused him of misogynist views and gender insensitivity. Any idea why she is accusing him of that?
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Loved this… ‘Freedom of speech and expression’- commonsense & sounds straightforward na? Wonder why its such a hard concept for majority to grasp.
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Its more to do with your earlier post on Arvind Kejriwal…but here it goes
http://thekabukidance.com/tag/aap-satire/
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IHM, AAP is a mixture of Rt wing Nationalists, Centrists and Leftists. Vishwas may belong to the first category. That is why, as Mallika Sarabhai has pointed out, his old speeches has shown intolerance to minorities and misogyny.
Another such AAP leader is the current Delhi law minister.
See what he and his goons done yesterday .
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/they-held-us-in-taxi-for-3-hrs-took-urine-samples-said-black-people-break-laws/
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If anything its naxalite mentality to take law into own hands …AAP is full of them
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Thanks for the link! Yes I heard it… gardan katwa dega par tumhara bolne ka haq nahi jaane dega!
I too may not agree with Prashant Bhushan, but that does not mean he has no right to his view!
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IHM, what is your view on ministers from AAP organizing rais on “sex workers” without a warrant and subjecting them to tests and searches?
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Following this news, waiting to learn some more.
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well they are staging a dharna outside Home Ministers office. Ashutosh, the journalist, defended the tests against the women!
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Kumar Vishwas on nurses
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=ngpB_85XZyc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DngpB_85XZyc%26feature%3Dyoutu.be
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Thank you , Rajdeep Sirdesai !
Thank you for conducting that brutal interview of Arvind Kejriwal , Saturday evening
Normally , Arvind is a very reticent fellow
But you managed to rattle him !
But for your penetrating questions , Arvind would not have volunteered to reveal on his own , the following :
> RESERVATION OF 90 % SEATS
– It is only for 28 colleges which are partially or fully funded by Delhi
Government
It is for ANY student ( from any state of India ) , who passes his / her
10th standard from any Delhi school
> FREE WATER
– Only 20KL per month is free
Our goal is to ” Reduce Consumption / Conserve ”
Hence it makes sense to charge those who continue to consume more
than 20 KL .
If they want FREE , they must cut back on consumption !
Again it makes lot of Economic Sense , to give water free , only to
those who have meters
Lakhs of households will now get motivated to install meters !
A very powerful incentive
That will introduce ” Measurement of Resource ”
> NO WATER IN SLUMS / UNAUTHORISED COLONIES
– This is a physical problem of laying 150 Km of new pipe-lines /
installation of pumps etc
No one asked Congress government re this for 15 years !
It is totally unfair to expect AAP to do this in 15 days !
> DIFFERING VIEWS / OPINIONS AMONGST AAP LEADERS
– This is what democracy is all about !
We encourage ALL to speak their minds without fear / reservations
Ideas must flow unhindered
We believe in brain-storming , not in suppressing views !
But ,
PAC members / MLAs / Core Committee Members etc will need to toe the
FINAL PARTY POSITION ( arrived after fierce internal debate / evaluation /
consensus ) in public , irrespective of their personal views
As far as millions of ORDINARY MEMBERS are concerned ( including Capt
Gopinath / Mallika Sarabhai etc ) , they are at liberty to criticize even the
FINAL PARTY POSITION
We impose PARTY DISCIPLINE , only on office bearers
And since Vinod Binny is our MLA , he is bound by this internal CODE OF
CONDUCT .
He must leave the party , if he cannot comply
> SOMNATH BHARATI TAKING LAW IN OWN HANDS
– If Delhi police won’t act against drug mafia / sex racketeers , despite a
pile of complaints from local citizens , then our ministers will come out on
the streets , in support of the oppressed
We will not hesitate to join their agitation / revolt against the corrupt !
Even Mahatma Gandhi , had to break the unjust British Laws
We will do the same
If we cannot change the law with the support of our MLAs , then we will
break it with the support of the suffering public
Make no mistakes about it !
> AAP ENGAGING IN ANARCHY / CHAOS / POPULISM
– Another TV channel editor said , we are continuing ” Activism ”
Still another TV anchor says , AAP failed to graduate to ” Governance ”
Use any – and all – adjectives you can , to describe our behavior / actions
We are not guided / governed by any ” Ideology ” ( Left / Right / Center )
When we take any decision / action , we only apply ” Gandhi Guideline ” ,
viz ; ” Will this help the poorest person ? ”
> AAP TAKING CONGRESS SUPPORT
– If they like , let them withdraw their ( unasked for ) support today
Let there be re-elections
People of Delhi will bring us back with 50 seats
> CONTESTING LOK DABHA SEAT ?
– I may , if Party asks me
[ Arvind ,
Whereas all the rest of your answers were most appropriate , this was
the most disappointing !
If you succumb to the ” wishes ” of your colleagues , not only the
people of Delhi , but of entire India , will conclude that ,
# You are an opportunist
# You are after power
# You cannot be trusted
# You have betrayed them ]
Once again , thank you Rajdeep ,
But for your grilling , public would have continued to believe the canards being dished out by those pseudo – experts trying to drown out each other , on panel discussions / obsessions !
* hemen parekh ( 20 Jan 2014 / Mumbai )
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Did you see his statement on nurses from Kerala? He may have been supporting freedom of speech but the mentality of the man is evident for everyone to see. So, would you support him just because he supports freedom of speech in spite of the type of mindset he brings with him? I’m sure any other politician would have been thrashed to bits on this blog on uttering such nonsense.
And what about the Delhi law minister’s raid on the so called drugs and prostitution racket? There were no drugs found from the site. And even if there was prostitution going on, there must have been at least one male who must have bought the services of the Ugandan females (if they are really prostitutes). But we saw no male being caught, let alone harassed. The blame of the supposed prostitution went entirely on to the foreigner females. Were they practicing prostitution among themselves?
Its funny how we Indians get so impressed by something and anything which is projected to be new or attractive without even applying our brains. The AAP is one such attraction.
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