In a major turn of events, the father of Kapil Gujjar, the man caught firing in the air at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh last week, has claimed that his son was a “supporter” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
“My son is a supporter of Modi… He was a follower of Modi and Amit Shah. My son always speaks of Hindustan and Hindutva,” Kapil’s father Gaje Singh had said.
Gujjar’s father’s comments came just hours after he had claimed that he or his son had “nothing to do with politics”.
On Wednesday morning, Kapil Gujjar’s father and brother denied any connection with the Delhi’s ruling party.
“Neither me nor my family has anything to do with AAP. They came to campaign during the Lok Sabha election (last year) and made us all wear AAP caps and that is what the photo is,” Singh said.
On Tuesday evening, the police said the 25-year-old, who shouted “Jai Shri Ram” as he fired shots near the anti-citizenship law protest venue at Shaheen Bagh, had confessed to being a member of AAP. The police also released the photos showing Gujjar standing with AAP leaders like Sanjay Singh and Atishi.
Shaheen Bagh has emerged as a centre of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the proposed National Register of Citizens. Hundreds of women have been peacefully protesting at Shaheen Bagh since December 15, against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Gujjar’s father said his son was “troubled about the roads being blocked at Shaheen Bagh… because a job would take him four hours instead of one”.
Gaje Singh, a resident of Dallupura village here, said he was a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but left politics after losing in the 2012 municipal polls here.
Gaje Singh had also fought the 2008 Delhi assembly elections on a BSP ticket from Jangpura, but lost.
BJP members had also met me on an earlier occasion, Gaje Singh claimed.