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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaArvind Kejriwal: The maverick leader who took on India’s ModiPublished9 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, AAPImage caption, Mr Kejriwal is the third AAP leader to be arrested over the alleged corruption caseBy Nikhila HenryBBC News, DelhiWhen Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday on claims of corruption, it came as no surprise.Months earlier, in November, Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had run a door to door campaign, asking residents of India’s capital whether he should resign or run his government from jail. Mr Kejriwal and other party seniors face corruption accusations under investigation by India’s powerful federal financial crime agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED)He is the third AAP leader to be arrested over a case related to a now-scrapped liquor policy in Delhi. This policy involved the government relinquishing control of the liquor market to private vendors.Mr Kejriwal has denounced the investigation, arguing that the ED had failed to frame “specific” charges against him and called the summons “generic” and “illegal”. Mr Kejriwal’s arrest, contrasting his anti-corruption campaign that took India by storm in 2011, comes less than a month before India’s general elections, starting on 19 April. His AAP is part of the 27-party INDIA alliance aiming to challenge the BJP.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mr Kejriwal and his close confidant Manish Sisodia (left) – Mr Sisodia was arrested in JanuaryIn just over a decade, AAP, despite being a newcomer, has emerged as a formidable force. It has secured successive victories in Delhi’s state elections since 2013 and expanded its influence by winning crucial polls in Punjab, where discontent against federal government policies prevails.The party is contesting four of the seven parliamentary seats in the capital in the upcoming polls. In 2019, it lost all the seven seats to the BJP. However, AAP swept 67 of the 70 assembly seats in Delhi in 2020.Who is Arvind Kejriwal?A mechanical engineer from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Mr Kejriwal later served as a government officer in the Income Tax department.He gained prominence for his work with Parivartan, an organisation that popularised the use of India’s Right to Information (RTI) law which allows people to access information held by the government. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, In 2011, Mr Kejriwal backed social crusader Anna Hazare’s (right) hunger strikeIn 2006, he received the Ramon Magsaysay award for using the RTI to “empower citizens to monitor and audit government projects and inspire local community action.”In 2011, Mr Kejriwal backed social crusader Anna Hazare’s hunger strike for the establishment of a citizen’s ombudsman to probe corruption. Inspired by the campaign’s success, which stirred India, he founded the AAP, pledging to eradicate corruption.Mr Kejriwal became the chief minister of Delhi for the first time in 2013. However, he resigned after 49 days when his party failed to pass the ombudsman bill in the assembly.His resignation proved strategic, portraying him as a principled politician willing to give up a high office in the fight against corruption. This bolstered his party’s growth, leading to a sweeping victory in the 2015 Delhi assembly elections. In 2020, his party secured another victory in Delhi.The fight to retain power AAP claims that the BJP seeks to topple its Delhi government despite its dominant position in the legislative assembly. Along with other opposition parties, it accuses the BJP of targeting opposition leaders through central agencies.These agencies are probing money laundering allegations against the chief ministers of three southern states and other political opponents. The BJP denies any political motivation behind the investigations.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mr Kejriwal took on Mr Modi in Varanasi in 2014 general elections and lostMr Kejriwal’s party has faced numerous investigations. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Manish Sisodia, Mr Kejriwal’s former deputy chief minister, in February last year accusing him of favouring some cartels after the liquor policy came into effect. Similarly, AAP’s top lawmaker Sanjay Singh was arrested last October for allegedly accepting money from middlemen of liquor barons who profited from the same policy.In his third term as chief minister, Mr Kejriwal faced new challenges. The Hindu nationalist BJP emerged as AAP’s main rival in Delhi, prompting the chief minister to appeal more to Hindu religious sentiments. Also, anti-corruption rhetoric alone wasn’t sufficient for AAP’s electoral success in Delhi, say analysts. The party’s popularity now relies heavily on welfare schemes such as free electricity and water for the poor.It remains to be seen whether AAP’s emphasis on its welfare schemes will resonate in the upcoming polls. “I will open as many schools as the number of summons issued to me,” Kejriwal said in February. The controversial liquor policyMr Kejriwal’s party had said that the new liquor policy would curb black market sales, increase revenues and ensure even distribution of liquor licenses across the city. However, the policy was later withdrawn after Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena accused AAP of exploiting rules to benefit private liquor barons. Mr Saxena, appointed by the federal government, had clashed with the Delhi government on multiple occasions before the controversy over the excise policy.Following Mr Saxena’s allegations, federal agencies started investigating the policy and the alleged kickbacks received by AAP leaders from its misuse. 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[ad_1] Mr Kejriwal’s arrest contrasts his anti-corruption campaign that took India by storm in 2011.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaMyanmar: Young people attempt to flee ahead of conscription orderPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsMyanmar coup Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, On 1 February, Myanmar entered its fourth year since the coupBy Kelly Ng BBC News, SingaporeA deadly stampede outside a passport office that took two lives and unending lines outside embassies – these are just some examples of what has been happening in Myanmar since the announcement of mandatory conscription into the military. Myanmar’s military government is facing increasingly effective opposition to its rule and has lost large areas of the country to armed resistance groups. On 1 February 2021, the military seized power in a coup, jailing elected leaders and plunging much of the country into a bloody civil war that continues today. Thousands have been killed and the UN estimates that around 2.6 million people been displaced.Young Burmese, many of whom have played a leading role protesting and resisting the junta, are now told they will have to fight for the regime. Many believe that this is a result of the setbacks suffered by the military in recent months, with anti-government groups uniting to defeat them in some key areas.”It is nonsense to have to serve in the military at this time, because we are not fighting foreign invaders. We are fighting each other. If we serve in the military, we will be contributing to their atrocities,” Robert, a 24-year-old activist, told the BBC.Many of them are seeking to leave the country instead. “I arrived at 03:30 [20:30 GMT] and there were already about 40 people queuing for the tokens to apply for their visa,” recalled a teenage girl who was part of a massive crowd outside the Thai embassy in Yangon earlier in February. Within an hour, the crowd in front of the embassy expanded to more than 300 people, she claims. “I was scared that if I waited any longer, the embassy would suspend the processing of visas amid the chaos,” she told the BBC, adding that some people had to wait for three days before even getting a queue number. In Mandalay, where the two deaths occurred outside the passport office, the BBC was told that there were also serious injuries – one person broke their leg after falling into a drain while another broke their teeth. Six others reported breathing difficulties. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, People gathering outside the Thai embassy in YangonJustine Chambers, a Myanmar researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies, says mandatory conscription is a way of removing young civilians leading the revolution. “We can analyse how the conscription law is a sign of the Myanmar military’s weakness, but it is ultimately aimed at destroying lives… Some will manage to escape, but many will become human shields against their compatriots,” she said.Myanmar’s conscription law was first introduced in 2010 but had not been enforced until on 10 February the junta said it would mandate at least two years of military service for all men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27. Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for the military government, said in a statement that about a quarter of the country’s 56 million population were eligible for military service under the law. The regime later said it did not plan to include women in the conscript pool “at present” but did not specify what that meant. The government spokesperson told BBC Burmese that call-ups would start after the Thingyan festival marking the Burmese New Year in mid-April, with an initial batch of 5,000 recruits.The regime’s announcement has dealt yet another blow to Myanmar’s young people. Many had their education disrupted by the coup, which came on top of school closures at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, the junta suspended 145,000 teachers and university staff over their support for the opposition, according to the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation, and some schools in opposition-held areas have been destroyed by the fighting or by air strikes.Then there are those who have fled across borders seeking refuge, among them young people looking for jobs to support their families.Young Burmese confront dashed dreams in exileWhy India wants to fence its troubled Myanmar borderIn response to the conscription law, some have said on social media that they would enter the monkhood or get married early to dodge military service. The junta says permanent exemptions will be given to members of religious orders, married women, people with disabilities, those assessed to be unfit for military service and “those who are exempted by the conscription board”. For everyone else, evading conscription is punishable by three to five years in prison and a fine.But Mr Min doubts the regime will honour these exemptions. “The junta can arrest and abduct anyone they want. There is no rule of law and they do not have to be accountable to anyone,” he said.Wealthier families are considering moving their families abroad – Thailand and Singapore being popular options, but some are even looking as far afield as Iceland – with the hope that their children would get permanent residency or citizenship there by the time they are of conscription age.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Myanmar people step on photos of military junta leader Gen Min Aung Hlaing during a gathering marking three years since the coupOthers have instead joined the resistance forces, said Aung Sett, from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, which has a long history of fighting military rule.”When I heard the news that I would have to serve in the military, I felt really disappointed and at the same time devastated for the people, especially for those who are young like me. Many young people have now registered themselves to fight against the junta,” the 23-year-old told the BBC from exile.Some observers say the enforcement of the law now reveals the junta’s diminishing grip on the country.Last October, the regime suffered its most serious setback since the coup. An alliance of ethnic insurgents overran dozens of military outposts along the border with India and China. It has also lost large areas of territory to insurgents along the Bangladesh and Indian borders.According to the National Unity Government, which calls itself Myanmar’s government in exile, more than 60% of Myanmar’s territory is now under the control of resistance forces. “By initiating forced conscription following a series of devastating and humiliating defeats to ethnic armed organisations, the military is publicly demonstrating just how desperate it has become,” said Jason Tower, country director for the Burma programme at the United States’ Institute of Peace. A turning point in Myanmar as army suffers big lossesWho are the rulers who executed Myanmar activists? Mr Tower expects the move to fail because of growing resentment against the junta. “Many youth dodging conscription will have no choice but to escape into neighbouring countries, intensifying regional humanitarian and refugee crises. This could result in frustration growing in Thailand, India, China and Bangladesh, all of which could tilt away from what remains of their support for the junta,” he said.Even if the military does manage to increase troop numbers by force, this will do little to address collapsing morale in the ranks. It will also take months to train up the new troops, he said.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Protesters gather in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, ThailandThe junta had a long history of “forced recruitment” even before the law was enacted, said Ye Myo Hein, a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.”So the law may merely serve as a facade for forcibly conscripting new recruits into the military. With a severe shortage of manpower, there is no time to wait for the lengthy and gradual process of recruiting new soldiers, prompting [officials] to exploit the law to swiftly coerce people into service,” he said.Even for those who will manage to escape, many will carry injuries and emotional pain for the rest of their lives.”It has been really difficult for young people in Myanmar, both physically and mentally. We’ve lost our dreams, our hopes and our youth. It just can’t be the same like before,” said Aung Sett, the student leader.”These three years have gone away like nothing. We’ve lost our friends and colleagues during the fight against the junta and many families have lost their loved ones. It has been a nightmare for this country. We are witnessing the atrocities committed by the junta on a daily basis. I just can’t express it in words.”Related TopicsMyanmar coup MyanmarAsiaMore on this storyMyanmar’s army is losing – and facing fire from a militant monkPublished23 JanuaryThe Chinese mafia’s downfall in a lawless casino townPublished23 November 2023The Myanmar soldiers refusing to fightPublished30 May 2023’We wish we could go back’: Life in a war-torn MyanmarPublished17 April 2023Top StoriesAnderson refuses to apologise for Islamist claimPublished40 minutes agoSweden’s bid to join Nato clears final hurdlePublished2 hours ago’Who will call me Dad?’ Tears of Gaza father who lost 103 relativesPublished2 hours agoFeaturesWhat is Nato and why is Sweden joining now?Gaza children search for food to keep families aliveListen: No Apology by Lee Anderson. 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