LS polls 2014: Freedom fighter Abbas Ali to support Arvind Kejriwal

ALIGARH: Veteran freedom fighter Captain Abbas Ali of the Subhash Chandra Bose-led Indian National Army (INA) has decided to pitch in for Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party.

94-year-old Abbas Ali said corruption, communalism, casteism and now crony capitalism are threatening to destroy the very basis of our democracy.

"I support Kejriwal because in this dark hour the man speaks for human values in public life and courage of conviction when other politicians are mesmerised by the quest for power," he said.

"It is not that Kejriwal has not committed mistakes but the man is at least raising some disturbing questions in the public domain. These questions have to be answered by the political class and the people. He has become a catalyst for change and I salute him ," he added.

Captain Abbas who started his career in March 1931 two days after his hero Bhagat Singh was hanged by the British said, "as an eleven- year-old that day I helped in organising a public protest in my home town Khurja to vent my anger against British tyranny."

"Today this is my last battle to save the motherland from a grave crisis which threatens the very ideals for which we sacrificed everything," he added.

Abbas who was awarded capital punishment for revolting against the Indian Army and joining the INA, was jailed during the emergency for joining the Jai Prakash Narayan-led movement.

He said that religious chauvinism and a dangerous trend of authoritarian style of politics would only spread disquiet among large sections of the people.

If there was tension and disturbance in society there was little chance of genuine development, he added.