Aam Aadmi HQ near Kejriwal's home vandalised

The Aam Aadmi Party headquarters near Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's home in Ghaziabad of India was vandalised by a mob this morning.

Around 50 to 60 people who also raised slogans against AAP leaders including Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan took part in the vandalism 11:00am, reports NDTV from Kaushambi, Ghaziabad.

"They threw bricks at us, attacked us with lathis (sticks) and misbehaved with women," a party worker present at the party office in Kaushambi, nearly a kilometre away from the chief minister's home, said. He said the attackers were carrying flags of a group calling itself the "Hindu Raksha Dal."

The Ghaziabad Police have now urged the Aam Aadmi Party and Kejriwal to review their refusal to take security and have said they will post personnel at the chief minister's office and house.

CCTV footage retrieved from the office showed men with red flags entering the office premises, throwing stones and breaking windows with lathis.

One of the attackers told reporters that they were protesting Bhushan's remarks on Kashmir. The lawyer-activist had said on NDTV's We the People on Sunday night that the use of the army for external and internal security within Kashmir should be treated as separate issues.

"For external defense, certainly the government of India can decide where to deploy the army. However, if it is supposed to be used for the internal security of the people there, then should you not have the consent of the people?" he said.

After his comments invited severe criticism from political parties and the Aam Aadmi Party too sought distance from them, Bhushan clarified saying "any reference to referendum should not be misconstrued to mean plebiscite on Kashmir's relationship with India."

There was minimal security at the AAP office at the time of the attack. Kejriwal has repeatedly asserted that his party will end the "VIP culture" that politicians are attuned to, starting with its most glaring symbols - vehicles with read beacons or lal batti, and heavy security. ('God will protect me,' says Kejriwal) He and his ministers have refused any security cover, but after today's attack, the police say they should reconsider.