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'My names is Arvind Kejriwal and I am not a terrorist' is the Delhi chief minister's message for the countrymen from Tihar jail, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh said Tuesday, slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party for the treatment being meted out to him in custody.
The BJP is trying to break him out of 'malice and vendetta' but he will emerge stronger from all of this, Singh said.
Addressing a press conference New Delhi, Singh alleged that a 'notorious criminal' lodged in Tihar jail was allowed to meet his lawyer and wife in the barrack, while Kejriwal had to meet Punjab Chief Minster Bhagwant Mann across a glass screen.
Hurt by the treatment being given to him, Kejriwal has sent a message for the countrymen: 'My names is Arvind Kejriwal and I am not a terrorist', Singh said.
The Delhi chief minister's assertion borrows from Shahrukh Khan-starrer 'My Name is Khan' in 2010 in which the actor famously says 'My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist'.
Singh said, "Kejriwal was being treated like a terrorist and he was allowed to meet Punjab Chief Minster Bhagwant Mann across a glass screen."
Singh, who walked out of the jail recently after spending six months in a money laundering case, alleged, "In jail number 2 of Tihar, a notorious criminal meets his lawyer and wife inside the barrack. Meetings of other inmates are also held in the office of the jail."
He did not take any names though.
Director General (prisons) Sanjay Baniwal on Monday said no distinction is made in the treatment meted out to the inmates and it is ensured they get the same basic rights.
Mann met Kejriwal in jail on Monday and alleged that he was not getting the amenities even a hardcore criminal is allowed in Tihar.
Responding to this, Baniwal said, "There is no distinction between a hardcore or a normal criminal. In the jail manual, there is no distinction between the inmates. Every inmate has basic rights and it is my duty to ensure that. These are being ensured to everyone."
Nobody is accorded special treatment and there is no such provision, he said.