PoliticsRSS
Kapil Sibal tells Mohan Bhagwat India wants a change of government, by democratic means
The Rajya Sabha MP hit back at the RSS chief's warning about 'regime change' attempts, saying the protesters at Jantar Mantar carried no lathis, guns or stones.
Key points
- Kapil Sibal said "What India wants is a change of government through democratic means", answering Mohan Bhagwat.
- Bhagwat had warned in his 20 October Vijayadashami speech in Nagpur against attempts to change regimes.
- Sibal questioned the handling of 57 FIRs registered in Delhi between 2 and 23 October.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday turned the RSS chief’s warning about “regime change” back on him, saying ordinary Indians simply want to vote the government out.
“What India wants is a change of government through democratic means,” Sibal told a press conference in New Delhi. “I think Mohan Bhagwat understands that but is not willing to acknowledge it.”
Bhagwat used his Vijayadashami address at Reshimbagh ground in Nagpur on 20 October, which also marked the close of the RSS centenary, to speak of attempts to change regimes. He said “demonic forces” were trying to break India, Hindus and the Sangh, and that people driven by political ambition were backing them. He urged that protests and political action must not divide society. The speech came during the weeks of protest against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the opposition’s demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign.
‘None of them had lathis’
Sibal said the comparison with violent uprisings abroad did not hold. Of the protesters at Jantar Mantar, he said: “None of them had lathis, guns or stones.”
He turned the charge around. “The RSS was an active participant in a regime change when it supported Kejriwal,” he said. He accused the Sangh of judging only its opponents. “You never blame the Modi government or the state governments where you are in power, because there is a conflict of interest.”
He also asked why the RSS had been silent about incursions in Arunachal Pradesh and eastern Ladakh. Referring to a recent ITBP statement on Arunachal, he said: “You can remove his statement from YouTube. You can’t remove those people who have occupied our territory.” He described US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit as “very demeaning”, without going into detail.
The FIRs
Sibal raised the policing of the protests in the capital. He questioned how 57 FIRs registered between 2 and 23 October had been handled and why they had been moved to the Crime Branch. “They register an FIR without naming anyone,” he said.
He mocked the burning of effigies at Dussehra too. “If you were a true Indian, you would burn the effigy of the Chanda Chors,” he said, using a jibe that means “donation thieves”.
What comes next
The BJP and the RSS had not responded to Sibal by mid-afternoon. The exchange adds to a sharper argument over the protests. Earlier this month the BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of wanting “regime change” after an AISA leader praised Bangladesh’s youth-led protests.
The INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan on 1 November, called to demand the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation, is the next big test. Sibal said he expected the change he spoke of to come at the ballot box. “I think the people of India have decided there will be change, and it will happen most peacefully.”