SC order granting Kejriwal bail 'big relief', message to BJP-led Centre to stop dictatorship: AAP
New Delhi (PTI): AAP on Friday demanded that the BJP should apologise to the country for keeping a "staunchly honest" leader like Arvind Kejriwal in jail, and said the Supreme Court order granting him bail in the excise policy case has exposed the BJP's "lies".
At a joint press conference here, senior AAP leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the Supreme Court order granting bail to Kejriwal was a moment of "big relief" for the party and its leaders and workers.
"It is not just the issue of bail granted to Kejriwal. The court has also given a big message to the BJP-led Centre to stop its dictatorship," he said.
He said the top court order is important not just for AAP but also as an assurance that if anyone resorted to "dictatorship", the Supreme Court would ensure the dominance of the Constitution.
The BJP was using the agencies to keep Kejriwal in jail, Sisodia alleged, adding that the CBI deliberately arrested Kejriwal to keep him in prison.
"The BJP intended to keep Kejriwal in jail, so the CBI arrested him after he got bail in the ED case. The CBI fulfilled the intentions of the BJP," the AAP leader alleged.
"The bail order is a big slap on the BJP's face. The court noted that the CBI was acting like a caged parrot," Sisodia said.
He said the BJP should introspect as it has been "completely exposed" and "apologise to the country for keeping a staunchly honest leader like Kejriwal in jail".
On the BJP's reaction to the bail order that the apex court granted the AAP national convenor conditional bail and that he continues to be an accused in the corruption case, the former deputy chief minister said, "BJP is talking about bail conditions imposed on Kejriwal because it is scared."
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh claimed that the whole excise policy case was based on a foundation of "lies" to "defame Kejriwal and finish off the Aam Aadmi Party".
"Kejriwal's bail granted by the Supreme Court is proof that the BJP's mountain of lies has now collapsed," he said.
"AAP will the defeat of the BJP in the Haryana and Delhi polls. Kejriwal's presence will strengthen us," Singh added.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
