Cockroach Janata Party protest: ‘Was fully prepared to sacrifice my freedom’ – What Abhijeet Dipke said

Hundreds gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Saturday (Jun 6) as Cockroach Janta Party, an online youth movement, staged a protest demanding the resignation of India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak case and other issues related to higher education. Addressing the crowd CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who arrived in Delhi from the US this morning, said he was “fully prepared” to lose his freedom for the movement. Dipke described the movement, which started as online political satire, as a long struggle. He also claimed that the government hacked the party’s social media accounts.

“This is a long struggle. It has been a month since we started demanding Pradhan’s resignation on social media, but these individuals are so shameless that instead of taking action, they have been focused on other distractions, like hacking our accounts and getting our posts deleted,” he alleged. “You may be able to delete our posts, but you cannot erase us.”

Last month, CJP’s X account was blocked in India over alleged national security concerns. Dipke filed a plea, and the Delhi High Court refused to order its immediate restoration.

‘Prepared to sacrifice freedom’

“I was fully prepared to sacrifice my freedom for this cause,” Dipke said, adding that he felt as though he was living his final moments of freedom. Earlier, the CJP founder had raised concerns, claiming that he would most likely be arrested by Indian authorities the moment he lands at Delhi airport. However, after a meeting with Delhi Police officials, he was granted permission to hold a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar.

Dipke said that his mother was very scared that the Indian government would throw him in jail. “How long will we live in this fear?” he asked his supporters, adding, “The youth and students of this country have not sold themselves.”

Dipke said CJP is not a planned party, but students’ outrage.

Earlier, Dipke faced backlash over his past Aam Aadmi Party links, with many social media users questioning whether the movement had been planned in advance.

He also informed his supporters that activist Sonam Wangchuk will soon be joining the gathering in the national capital.

Delhi security beefed up

Delhi Police had beefed up security across the national capital as a large number of people were expected at the CJP protest. More than 1,000 personnel were deployed across Delhi as a precautionary measure.

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