New Delhi, Oct 13 (ANI): Anti graft activist Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said he will continue with his protest till Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid resigned over allegations of corruption, and urged more people to join the campaign.
Kejriwal is presently lodged in make shift jail in Bawana in New Delhi's outskirts with hundreds of his supporters.
Kejriwal along with his supporters was arrested on Friday (October 12) while leading a protest march to the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding Khurshid's dismissal on the allegations of involvement in embezzlement of funds allocated for the welfare of specially-abled people.
Kejriwal on Wednesday (October 10) had accused Khurshid's wife, Louise Khurshid, for siphoning off funds, which were allocated for the welfare of specially-abled people.
Speaking to reporters, Kejriwal said that they would continue with their agitation and called for an explanation from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"They cannot detain us for more than 24 hours otherwise they will have to present us before the magistrate. Twenty four hours will complete at 3pm so till that time either they will have to release us or they will have to produce us before the magistrate and arrest us. If we will be arrested then they will take us to Tihar jail and if we are released then we will head towards the parliament street police station. I would appeal people to reach parliament street police station in large numbers. The country will not remain mum and Salman Khurshid will have to resign and we will not accept prime minister's silence," said Kejriwal.
Kejriwal also slammed policemen for beating up some workers and accused them of threatening the protesters of implicating them in false cases if they persisted with the protest.
"Yesterday one of the workers was brutally beaten by police and later he was taken in the police vehicle to an isolated place where he was threatened of being implicated in false cases if they continued with the protest. I want to make them aware that such pressure tactic will not work on us instead more volunteers would join the movement," said Kejriwal.
Meanwhile, social activist Kumar Vishwas also came down heavily on the police for not letting him meet Kejriwal.
Vishwas threatened to sit on protest outside the make shift jail if they were not granted permission to meet protesters.
"I want to alert the police that they should allow us to meet them as soon as possible or else we will sit on protest outside the gate only. They are telling us that they have orders from the seniors that we will not be allowed to meet them. I fail to understand who this higher authority is whether it is Shiela Dikshit or the prime minister. This is the basic right of a prisoner that he should be allowed to meet a person who comes to visit him," said Vishwas.
In the past year Kejriwal had spearheaded various protests against rampant graft and demand for an effective law to combat rampant corruption that is prevalent in the country.
Responding to a sting operation by a television channel, which claimed that the Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, headed by the minister and run by his wife, had withdrawn funds meant for procuring equipment such as crutches and hearing aids, while not actually performing any of its intended function.
Kejriwal, who is set to announce the name of his political party in late November, has also accused Union ministers, including Khurshid of shielding Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi against graft allegations. (ANI)