It was a foregone conclusion that Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest would cause a political uproar in the nation. But the fact that his arrest would create a diplomatic ruckus too, has been a tad unexpected, especially by many in the power corridors.
When the Delhi Chief Minister was arrested on March 21 and the very next day remanded to six days of ED custody by the trial court; protests, social media posts, outrage by AAP workers and allegations by other opposition members followed.
But as it turned out, the news of the sitting Delhi CM’s arrest garnered traction on the world platforms and mainstream Western media.
The fact that the world's “largest, oldest and mother of democracy” is going to elections in a few weeks, has had the correspondents keenly monitor India’s Capital. In less than a week of the arrest, spokesperson of the German Foreign Ministry Sebastian Fischer opined, “Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial, this includes he can make use of all available legal avenues without restrictions.”
He was also quick to add, “We have taken note of the case. India is a democratic country. We assume and expect that the standards relating to the Independence of the judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case.”
The statement irked India and how, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) losing no time in issuing a demarche to Germany.
“The German Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi was summoned and conveyed India’s strong protest on their Foreign Office Spokesperson’s comments on our internal affairs,” said the ministry in a press release, adding, “We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary.”
Many in India, including the mainstream media, have been largely aligned with the Central government’s stance; social media posts have been filled with those cheering and clapping for the Indian government and for showing Germany its place.
But in the complex and fragile world of geopolitics, nothing happens in isolation.
The MEA had just finished doing overtime over Germany when the US State Department official said that the US was closely monitoring the situation. Without losing time, a day after the remarks from Washington, the Ministry of External Affairs, India summoned the US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena and reportedly the meeting lasted 40 minutes.
India, in an official statement, said, “that it strongly objected to the remarks of the spokesperson of the US State Department about certain legal proceedings in India.”
Not one to backdown, within a day of the development, the US doubled down on India, and reiterated through State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, “Washington encourages fair, transparent, timely legal processes and we don’t think anyone should object to that.”
In what will be viewed as, probably a strong reaction, the US also mentioned Congress party’s frozen bank accounts in the same media interaction.
With the arrest of Kejriwal, the BJP has on its part tried to project the image of zero tolerance towards corruption. But has the move backfired for India’s ruling party?
Or did it anticipate, that both noise and news were largely similar to the one that happened over two months back in former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s arrest?
The then-sitting Jharkhand CM was arrested after seven hours of questioning at his residence in a land scam case, following which he resigned.
But Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, while similar on many counts, has had ramifications far wider and largely different.
In the meanwhile, the Delhi High Court heard the sitting Delhi CM’s plea challenging his arrest by the ED in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam.
However, the SC declined any relief to the CM making him complete his custodial remand.
The opposition claims that the “arrest is politically motivated.” Those keeping a keen eye and a close watch, are likely to give the benefit of the doubt to the claims.
The timing of the arrest cannot be completely dissociated from the cause of it —- which is just a few days ahead of the elections and during the prime period of election campaigning. The move has had many questioning the Centre.
As PM Modi seeks a third term, will it be easy for him and more importantly, should he be willing to risk facing diplomatic isolation?
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