Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Swati Maliwal on Tuesday took a new dig at Minister-designate Atishi, saying that his family had close ties with convicted former Delhi University professor Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani. death by a special court but was later acquitted by the Supreme Court in the 2001 Parliament attack case.
The AAP MP said Atishi’s parents were involved in a 2016 event at Delhi’s Press Club, held in memory of Afzal Guru, the man convicted of the 2001 Parliament attack. The event, according to Maliwal, was organized by Atishi and Syed Abdul Rahman Gilani’s parents.
Slogans advocating freedom for Kashmir and glorifying Afzal Guru were raised, including, “If one Afzal dies, lakhs will be born,” said the Rajya Sabha MP.
Adding to the criticism, Maliwal said Atish’s parents also wrote an article titled “Arrest and Torture of Syed Geelani.” The Rajya Sabha MP also shared screenshots of the article on his official handle X with the caption “God help Delhi.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Maliwal criticized AAP’s decision to pick Atishi as the new Delhi chief minister and said the family fought to stop the hanging of convicted terrorist Afzal Guru.
Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack, was executed in 2013.
On Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi tapped Kailash Gahlot to be the next chief minister of Delhi, following which Arvind Kejriwal resigned from the top post. Atishi’s name was proposed by Kejriwal in the legislature party meeting, and it was unanimously accepted by the AAP MLAs.
You were born Delhi University professors Vijay Kumar Singh and Tripta WahiThe 43-year-old started his political journey with AAP in 2013. He gained attention after participating in the Jal Satyagraha in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh in 2015.