THE message from India to the world is clear -- Keep off the Arvind Kejriwal issue, which is none of your business; it is India’s internal matter and is being handled as per the law of the land, and nobody else has anything to do with it; no one else can decide the right or wrong of the issue. So, first, it was Germany whose diplomat was told in no uncertain terms what India officially felt about the German interference in India’s internal matters. Then came the turn of the United States (US) to get piece of India’s mind on the issue. That Mr. Arvind Kejriwal proved to the be the first-ever sitting Chief Minister to be arrested, cannot be denied. But then, it also cannot be denied that he had the temerity to bunk summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for as many as nine times. The patient wait the ED demonstrated showed that it was in no hurry to push things illogically or immorally. Obviously, it was following its mandate to the hilt and gave a loose leash to Mr. Kejriwal to keep ducking the summons on absolutely flimsy pretexts. The action came only after the ED’s approach got the blessings of the judiciary.

 

Thus, on ground of so-called political morality, nobody can place at India’s doorstep. Unfortunately, however, some external powers have been nursed carefully by the Opposition whose leaders have often indulged in making appeals for help “to protect democracy” in the country. These leaders -- including Mr. Rahul Gandhi -- have been known to have delivered speeches at select forums in a few countries and appealed to powers that be there to help in restoring democracy in India. Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, too, is known to have developed such links with anti-India lobbies in a few countries around the world. It must be noted that the political lobbies in many countries are in the habit of making selective choices about politics in India. One such lobby had, more than 12 years ago, had blocked the visit of Mr. Narendra Modi, then the Chief Minister of Gujarat, to the United States by denying him the Visa.

 

It is common knowledge that such lobbies are still operational in a few countries and keep making attempts to destabilise India every now and then. A few reputed universities, too, have such lobbies operating against India’s national interest. The attempt to question the wisdom behind the decision to arrest Mr. Arvind Kejriwal appears to have stemmed from such lobbies. India has done well to thwart any such attempts. The Indian stand is clear: Do not mess up with India’s internal matters. Do not meddle in Indian affairs. Do not try to preach India, the mother of democracy, what democracy is. At this moment, the Indian message may have the tone and tenor of diplomacy, but its deeper meaning is clear -- that no lobby, whether in governments or elsewhere in any country, should try to interfere in India’s internal issues.

 

If that is done, India will treat that as an infringement of its sovereign spirit and right. India’s domestic politics, as the message stresses, is its own business and others should never indulge in it. Some powers elsewhere have linked Mr. Arvind Kejriwal as a symbolism of the fight against corruption. That he launched such a fight, is a matter of the past. Presently, he -- and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) -- stands doused in charges of serious corruption with no justification whatsoever. Many of Mr. Kejriwal’s colleagues also are languishing in prisons for their involvement in cases of corruption. Many more may follow suit soon. In such a situation, it is only unacceptable that a few lobbies outside India try to interfere in internal affairs. They must remember that their indulgence will be treated with equal disdain by the Indian authorities at all levels.