‘Can’t Delhi be safe for us?’ Kejriwal writes to Amit Shah

In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed concerns about the worsening law and order situation in Delhi.

Kejriwal described the capital city as being increasingly seen as the crime capital. “Crimes against women are increasing rapidly. Extortion gangs and gangsters are active in every street, and the drug mafia has spread its tentacles all over the city,” wrote Kejriwal.

He added, “Today, incidents like firing, murder, kidnapping, and stabbing are being carried out in broad daylight.”

He pointed out that over the last six months, Delhi had faced more than 300 bomb threats targeting schools, colleges, hospitals, malls, and the airport. “Can you imagine what a child and their parents go through when a school is evacuated due to a bomb threat? Today, every parent and child in Delhi is living under the shadow of fear. How shameful it is that under your supervision, our glorious capital is being referred to as the ‘rape capital,’ ‘drug capital,’ and ‘gangster capital,’” Kejriwal stated. The law and order in the national capital is under the purview of the Union Home Ministry.

Delhi, he said, ranked first in crimes against women among the 19 metro cities in India and lead in the number of murder cases. Drug-related crimes have surged by 350 per cent since 2019, he claimed.

“On an average, three women are raped in the city daily, and every second day, a business owner receives a ransom call.” These figures, Kejriwal argued, reflected the deteriorating the state of law and order in the National Capital.

Drawing on his interactions with residents of Delhi, Kejriwal said, “Mothers and sisters are asking, ‘Can’t Delhi be safe for us?’ Businessmen are asking, ‘Can’t we run our business without fear of criminals?’ The biggest question on the minds of Delhiites today is: ‘Are we not entitled to better law and order in the country’s capital?’”

“Your cooperation and proper action are very much needed in this serious matter. The situation is very bad. We have to rise above politics and fix the law and order of Delhi immediately,” he wrote.

The letter concluded with a plea for a meeting to discuss the issue further. Kejriwal requested, “I urge you to give me your valuable time very soon so that I can provide you with complete information on this subject. I will wait for your reply.”