Day after assault, Arvind Kejriwal meets and forgives his attackers

By Vasudha Venugopal

NEW DELHI: In an emotional drama filled with acts of apology and forgiveness, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal went to the residences of the two men who slapped him in separate incidents recently.

First he went to Kirari village in North west Delhi where he met 38-year-old Lali who has slapped him at Sultanpuri on Tuesday.

Kejriwal had sustained a minor injury in his left eye and his spectacles were damaged in the attack. An emotional Lali said he had supported AAP in its initial days and had even campaigned for it.

“I was very angry when they quit the government. I had wanted to meet Kejriwal several times to remind him about the promises he made to the auto-drivers,” he said.

He however said he was deeply apologetic about his behaviour that Kejriwal was ‘God’ for him to have forgiven him.

Kejriwal also went to the residence of 19-year-old Abdul Wahid at Jamia Nagar in Okhla. Abdul, class XII dropout had slapped him on Friday in Dakshinpuri, said he was angry with Kejriwal because he had not talked enough about Muzaffarnagar riots in his speeches.

“I thought he had forgotten all about strengthening Hindu-Muslim unity that he had promised earlier, but today he came to my house and made me understand. I will never do anything like this again,” he said.

Both Lali and Abdul denied having taken any money from any political party. “My son is hot-headed but not into politics. We hardly have money to send our three children to school,” said Shama Wahid, Abdul’s mother, adding that her son was fighting substance addiction and had also dropped out of school a few months back, because of the same reason.