Elected govt should not stage street protests: Aruna Roy

NEW DELHI: The AAP government's 33-hour dharna came in for fresh criticism from social activist Aruna Roy who said an elected government should not resort to street protests.
While recognizing that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's demand for control over Delhi Police was genuine, Roy disagreed with the means. "When you are elected into a system, you cease to be a movement.If you are unhappy with some issues, there are official channels that should be explored. There are plural means that could have been used," she said.
Roy added that the AAP government in Delhi needed to understand the "power of the chair". "The CM has power, for instance, that I have no access to. Power lies in structures and they should learn to use this power," she said, However, Roy acknowledged that AAP has set some new standards in the country's political arena by showing that elections could be won without corruption. She however said it needed more time to prove itself. "It's too early to assess its performance. We'll have to wait and see what it does on issues like housing for slum-dwellers, water connections for poor etc."
Speaking after a lecture on 'Idea of India and Citizenship' in the Capital, Roy said if law minister Somnath Bharti had made racist comments, it was "unacceptable".
"There is a black vs brown issue in Delhi. If you are black, everything is wrong with you... he should acknowledge that he was in the wrong. One can't be in public office and make such comments. It is unacceptable," Roy said.
She also took on AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, saying she was "surprised by his audacious poems" mocking nurses from Kerala as well as Muharram procession. "One person (Vishwas) who does poetry makes fun of nurses from south India and laughs at Muharram. How can they do this? We need accountability from these people," Roy said.
In her lecture, Roy stressed on the importance of the movement in aspects of political life. "We have created policy, influenced policy and this is by no means a mean achievement," she said.