Wartime situation in Delhi: Shashi Tharoor criticises the government

The law and order situation in India’s capital Delhi has become very tense. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and leftist groups announced a protest against the Election Commission in advance. Because of this, the whole of Delhi has turned into a besieged fortress. Security forces took a tough stand to stop the protest, and they have detained at least 5,000 protesters since yesterday morning.

Mr. Shashi Tharoor, a senior Congress Member of Parliament and a former senior United Nations diplomat, sharply criticised the unusual security and strict controls in Delhi. In a post on social media, he called the situation a “wartime deployment” and “shameful.” He said he rarely saw such a situation before.

Mr. Tharoor said he returned to Delhi after 2 AM, and he said, “People’s freedom of movement has been taken away completely.” He made a strong claim about the reason for this. He said the Mr. Narendra Modi government took these harsh steps so that ordinary citizens and political parties cannot raise questions about the fairness of the election in a peaceful way.

Mr. Tharoor strongly criticised the decision to shut down internet services in the heart of the capital. He called it “one of the most backward and repressive steps.” He said people already doubt the fairness of the election. He said if the government turns its own capital into a fortress to avoid that doubt, the doubt grows many times more.

Mr. Tharoor also said, “Barricades and security forces cannot bring back people’s lost trust in the Election Commission. The faster the government answers the questions in the public mind, the faster the situation will calm down.” The CJP and leftist parties called for this protest to question the fairness and neutrality of the election process.