In a rare move by any Political Leader, BJP MP Tarun Vijay  has denounced his  Z plus security claiming that the common people needed even more protection than politicians.
The MP’s action came as thousands of people who gathered at Raisina Hill to protest the gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman in a bus six days ago raised the demand that VIP security be minimised, so that more policemen can be deployed for the protection of common people.
In a letter to the home minister Vijay said: “At a time when the entire nation is protesting, demanding more security for the citizens, it will be unbecoming of me to continue to have security. I request you to kindly take back the security cover and provide more security and protection to the common citizens who need it more than us.”
Vijay, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, pointed out that the security cover was provided to him by the Union Home Ministry, due to threats from the Indian Mujahideen, a terrorist organisation.
“The security cover was provided by you (home ministry) in the wake of the death threats I had received from the terrorist organisation Indian Mujahideen. Even if I die at the hands of the terrorists in the absence of a security cover, I shall still have no regret, as the people on the street, who are our real masters, need this protection more than any politician,” the letter said.
The MP also condemned the police use of water canons and lathis (sticks) to disperse thousands of people who had gathered at Raisina Hill here to protest the gang-rape of the 23-year-old woman in a bus six days ago.
“Instead of using water cannon and lathi charge on the protesting people, it would have been more appropriate if leaders like you (Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde) too had sat with them and added the government’s voice to the peoples’ anguish, committing to end the criminal assaults on citizens. That would have added to the glory and the integrity of the state power. But your government has used violence against the honest and unprotected people,” the letter added.
Outrage has been swelling across the country after the woman was tortured and subjected to brutal gang-rape in a moving private bus Dec 16 in Delhi, while she and a male friend were going home after watching a film.