Families of two martyred policemen were handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore each by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday. The development came despite most of his party's MLAs saying that Delhi Police be exempt from getting the compensation.
"I want to say something, please don't connect it with politics. I have been attacked twice in the last one month. Once when Signature Bridge was being inaugurated and second at the Delhi Secretariat recently,” Kejriwal said.
"Some of our MLAs got furious over the attack and said that the Rs 1 crore policy should not cover the Delhi Police, but I don't agree with it at all. Delhi Police is my family, it's a part of my family," he added.
Speaking at a function organised in a tribute to late Constable Birendra Singh and late Constable Deepak Kumar, the chief minister said only a few Delhi Police officers are politically motivated and that everyone in the force should not be treated in the same manner.
"Delhi Police is not an individual, it is not the name of a handful of officers. Delhi Police also have brave men like Birendra and Deepak, who not only keep Delhi safe but have also made Delhi Police proud...There might be some senior officers who are politically motivated, but this doesn't mean that the whole of Delhi Police is bad," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief said.
Attacking the Central government, Kejriwal said even though they made the policy soon after forming the government in 2015, the powers above them withheld it.
"The policy was made soon after we formed the government in 2015, the names of five brave martyrs were also announced soon after, but our policy was withheld by the powers above us. We are ready to face hurdles and fight, be it the installation of CCTVs or Mohalla Clinics, but how can they try to scuttle a policy meant for our martyrs?" he said.
The AAP supremo said that he reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Delhi government's policy and asked him to implement a similar policy with a compensation of Rs 5 crore.
"I am sure, someday the Central government will implement it, but they should not have withheld the Delhi government's policy for so long. I went to the LG and made requests, but he refused to pass the policy," Kejriwal said.