Kejriwal asks whether Govt. wants to portray ex-servicemen as national threat

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday trained his guns on the BJP-led NDA Government over the forceful eviction of ex-servicemen protesting at the Jantar Mantar over the 'One Rank, One Pension' (OROP) scheme and asked whether the ruling dispensation is attempting to state that those who helped us get independence have now become a threat.

"This is a very sad thing that Delhi civic authorities tried to clear all military veterans, who are on a relay hunger strike to protest the delay in implementation of OROP from the heart of the capital ahead of Independence Day citing security reasons," Kejriwal told ANI.

"Is the government trying to say that the people who helped us get independence have now become a threat for the security? This is wrong," he added.

The AAP chief urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an announcement on the OROP scheme from the ramparts of the Red Fort during his Independence Day address tomorrow.

"I am sure every party will support it if he does so," he said.

Kejriwal also criticized the ruling BJP for backtracking on the promise of implementation of OROP.

"It was already a sad thing that our former servicemen have been struggling for a long time. All the parties were saying that they would implement OROP. Now, that they have come to power, they should have implemented," Kejriwal said.

"If they are not implementing it, at least they shouldn't do it. We strongly criticize the move," he added.

The Delhi Chief Minister had earlier tweeted to express his ire over the government's attitude.

"Ex-servicemen being forcibly thrown out of jantar mantar? Bizarre.They protected us till yest. Now they r security threat for indep day?" he tweeted.

"Within a year, NDA has started behaving the way UPA behaved in its second term. This is how UPA-II wud crush movements," he said in another tweet.

Extremely disappointed with the delay in implementation of the OROP scheme, four former service chiefs have written an open letter to President Pranab Mukherjee requesting his intervention and said that its denial is merely the last straw that has exhausted the veterans' patience.

OROP scheme has been a long-standing demand of nearly three-million ex-servicemen and war widows in the country. It seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel, who retire at the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement.