Waving the national flag at a protest has landed a young activist in a police cell — and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal is calling it nothing less than dictatorship. On Friday, 16 October 2026, Kejriwal posted a sharp political broadside on X, condemning the arrest of a person named Abhijeet and framing it as evidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi fears the opposition's street presence.

Kejriwal's post — in Hindi — asked pointedly: 'क्या तिरंगा लहराना जुर्म है?' ('Is hoisting the tricolour a crime?'). He declared the arrest 'outright dictatorship' and argued it revealed how deeply the ruling establishment fears political challengers. The post was accompanied by a video, the contents of which are central to the claim.

The tricolour as flashpoint

The Indian national flag has periodically become a contested symbol during protest politics. The Flag Code of India governs the display of the tricolour and has been subject to varying legal interpretations at public gatherings, creating space for authorities and protesters to argue its use from opposite positions. Opposition groups have on several occasions used flag-hoisting as an act of political assertion, knowing it carries a certain moral and constitutional weight that is difficult to argue against openly.

Arrests at protest sites framed around flag or symbolic displays have a recurring pattern in Indian political history — and each time they occur, the opposition finds a ready-made narrative: the state is afraid of the very symbols it claims to champion.

Kejriwal's 'fear' argument and its political logic

The Aam Aadmi Party, founded in 2012 and currently governing Delhi and Punjab, has positioned itself consistently as a check on what it describes as high-handed central authority. Kejriwal — himself a former detainee in a high-profile case — is not a neutral voice on the question of politically motivated arrests. But that biography also gives the charge a resonance beyond routine party rhetoric.

By invoking Modi's name directly and using the word 'डरते हैं' ('they fear'), Kejriwal is doing something specific: he is arguing that repression signals weakness, not strength. It is a framing designed to embolden supporters and put the ruling party on the defensive without requiring a detailed legal argument. Whether Abhijeet's arrest holds up in court — or collapses — will determine how long that narrative sustains itself.

The details of the arrest, the precise location, and the formal charges against Abhijeet remain unconfirmed. What is confirmed is that a senior opposition leader has staked political capital on the claim, attached a video as evidence, and broadcast it to millions. Courts, not social media, will deliver the next chapter — but politics rarely waits for verdicts.