Delhi police on Wednesday detained opposition leaders as they tried to meet the family of an ex-serviceman who allegedly killed himself over government’s pension policy for Indian army veterans. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi state’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were taken from a hospital in the capital to separate police stations. The army veteran Ram Kishan Grewal had died on Tuesday. The pension scheme, approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, last September, was expected to benefit around three million veterans by giving them more money every five years regardless of when they retired. But some veterans have expressed disappointment and anger as the government has not met all their demands, including the pension increase. Gandhi told media that he only went to speak with the family for a couple of minutes, but the police detained him, and even the family of the veteran. “This government should at least apologise to the veteran’s family,” he had added. After his detainment by the police, Chief Minister Kejriwal, who does not enjoy a cordial relationship with the BJP government, hit out at Modi on Twitter. He accused Prime Minister Modi of lying that One Rank One Pay (OROP) has been implemented. He added that if it were the case, why would the likes of Ram Kishan commit suicide? Furthermore, he also demanded an apology from Modi to the soldiers. On the other hand, the Delhi police justified their action on the ground that the two politicians were detained after medical services at the hospital got severely affected, and orderliness deteriorated. Following the incident, both government and opposition leaders have defended their stances on the issue. Home Minister Rajnath Singh defended the detention of Gandhi and Kejriwal at a press conference later in the day. OROP is one of the longest pending demands made by Indian army veterans from successive New Delhi governments. Modi had made it one of his key promises during his election campaign before the 2014 election. The BJP government in the face of mounting protest and resentment among veterans announced, in September 2015, that it would implement the new pension scheme. But the scheme could not satisfy the demands of the veterans. Protests have continued, and the incident of Ram Kishan’s death has further added fuel to the fire, giving opposition parties a chance of point scoring. Eerily similar are the actions of the Delhi police to that of the Islamabad police earlier this week, when the latter resorted to manhandling, teargasing, detainment and arrest of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ‘s (PTI) leaders, workers and supporters while they were travelling to Islamabad or had gathered in the city. The PTI chief, Imran Khan, had threatened to lock down Islamabad in the case of rejection of his party’s demand to initiate a fair and transparent probe into allegations of corruption and tax evasion against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family after the release of Panama Papers earlier this year. While the death of ex-servicemen is a serious matter, political parties should avoid such tactics which could hurt the sentiments of a grieving family. The incident could have remained apolitical had the government and the police acted more cautiously, keeping in mind the implications it could have both politically as well as towards the sentiments of army veterans. Moreover, India being the largest democracy in the world should be working towards strengthening its system to become an example for the rest of the world. Such actions on the part of government that curtail rights of citizens will only harm the image of the country. The policy of arresting or condemning anyone who speaks against the acts of government will only further strengthen the sentiment of intolerance in India, which could set an extremely dangerous precedent for a country that prides itself on its diversity and pluralism. *