CJP protest: Saturday with cockroaches at Jantar Mantar – Students, reels and slogans | Today’s news
As the summer sun rose over Delhi on a sultry June morning, groups of people gathered outside the Parliament Street police station in the heart of the capital. On the other side of the road near the C-Hexagon roundabout past the India Gate is a battery of Blue Delhi Police buses and vans. Police and paramilitary forces significantly outnumber supporters of the Janta Cockroach Party (CJP).
Abhijeet Dipke, the 30-year-old founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), comes to India from Boston after completing his Masters in the United States. Dipke asked his supporters and students to join his protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the recent controversies surrounding the NEET-UG medical entrance exam, On-Screen Marking (OSM) in CBSE exams.
Read also | Abhijeet Dipke urges his supporters to skip meeting at the airport after returning to India
Around 8:00 AM, Dipke announced on social media that he had landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi, about a 30-minute drive from the Parliament Street Police Station in normal traffic conditions. Outside the police station, police officers urged their supporters to clear the road and proceed to Jantar Mantar, where Dipke was given permission to hold the protest.
Still, the several hundred CJP supporters on site seemed outnumbered by the content creators who showed up to cover the event. Armed with smartphones on selfie sticks, many filmed the rally and interviewed supporters wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with the CJP logo – the cockroach.
Hundreds of people gathered to join CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday, June 6 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi over irregularities in examinations conducted by the central government.(CJP)
About 15 minutes after his arrival, the Janta Cockroach Party (CJP) announced that the satirical political outfit that had emerged less than a month ago had been allowed to continue the demonstration. The CJP, through his social media, appealed to the supporters to reach Jantar Mantar – a protest site less than a kilometer away.
At Jantar Mantar, participants were subjected to police security checks before being allowed into the protest site. The barricaded compound gradually filled with CJP supporters, many of whom were students, as well as journalists and television crews covering the event.
As crowds poured in from both sides, supporters started chanting demanding Pradhan’s resignation.
Read also | Cockroach Janta Party protest LIVE | Sonam Wangchuk reaches Jantar Mantar
The crowd reflected a cross-section of people who were seduced by a common sense of wrong. There was one parent from Mayur Vihar whose daughter had recently dropped out of NEET preparation following the paper leak controversy; a teacher from Pune who flew to Delhi to join the protest; Grade 12 Passouts inspired by the “Cockroach Movement”; a visually impaired man pushing for education reforms; and a grandmother who said her granddaughter became depressed after the paper was leaked.
New Delhi, Jun 06 (ANI): A supporter of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) wears a mask while holding a placard during a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Saturday. (NOT a photo)(Hemant Rawat)
“My daughter was preparing for NEET. The newspaper leak caught her by surprise. It’s not a class 12 exam. A single mark can make or break your career. Ask a NEET aspirant. We are happy that someone is speaking for our children and for us,” said On Shankar, a 50-year-old resident of Mayur Vihar who participated in the protest.
By 10:00 am more people started streaming to Jantar Mantar. Content creators stayed busy filming and live streaming, with their smartphones mounted on selfie sticks as they documented the gathering. Many supporters wore protective masks against cockroaches during the protest.
Then came the unexpected anti-climax: Internet speed slowed to a crawl. As the crowd grew larger, many participants speculated that jammers had been deployed in the area. True or not, the breach has become a topic of discussion among protesters and content creators alike.
However, at that time, the assembly was no longer dominated by mobile control reel manufacturers. More and more supporters began to arrive, joining the crowd and giving the protest a more serious, political character.
By 10:00 am more people started streaming to Jantar Mantar. Content creators stayed busy filming and live streaming, with their smartphones mounted on selfie sticks as they documented the gathering. Many supporters wore protective masks against cockroaches during the protest. (Gulam Jeelani)
“Who has been held accountable for the paper leaks. Who will look after the careers of the thousands of people left in the lurch by the paper leaks?” said Harsh Vardhan, a Class 12 pimp at the protest
The erratic internet connectivity soon began to take a toll on the gathering, forcing many attendees to leave the venue. Some expressed disappointment at the lack of basic measures. There was no stage, no microphone system, and little sign of the kind of organized action that many expected.
We may be mere insects, but we live: Dipke
Dressed in a white T-shirt, Dipke reached the spot around 10:30 am. He reached the stage near the Janata Dal (United) Party office. He appealed to supporters, now swollen to several thousand.
“People say what is achieved by organizing movements, sit-ins, demonstrations and taking out processions? It proves that we are alive! We may be mere insects to the government, but we are alive and able to fight for our rights,” Dipke told his supporters, who repeatedly shouted anti-Pradhan slogans.
For several supporters, the protest fell short of expectations. After the rapid rise of the Janta cockroach party on the Internet, many arrived expecting a well-coordinated demonstration. Instead, they found mostly spontaneous assemblies with few visible organizational structures. CJP may not have expected such a big turnout.
“They could have made a big scene for us to at least watch what he was saying,” said Namita, a lawyer from Noida. But even this crowd to begin with is an encouraging sign, she said.
Several protest participants appeared to represent established political parties. One notable exception was Anish Gawande, NCP National Spokesperson (Sharad Pawar) who was present at the venue. The left-wing student organization All India Students’ Association (AISA) was also present at the protest.
“Complete lack of responsibility”
In an interview with Mint during the protest, Anish said this The CJP is a manifestation of a larger problem facing India today: a complete lack of accountability. “Despite hundreds of protests across the country, no action has been taken against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The lives of millions of students are clearly worthless, meaningless to a government that has forgotten how to care,” he said.
“Young people are taking to the streets to demand justice. To remind the government that it is of the people, by the people, for the people. It’s a clarion call for opposition parties: there is public discontent, yet there is disillusionment with traditional parties and ideologically driven politics. We would do well to see exactly why this disillusionment exists – and how we can regain public confidence in elections029.
By midday, people were still streaming into the protest site. Around that time, a group of saffron-clad men appeared on one side of the venue and started raising slogans against the CJP.
Read also | More than 8 thousand students signed a petition demanding Pradhan’s resignation: CJP
Some members of the group reportedly referred to the protesters as “Pakistani”, prompting angry reactions from those who gathered at the site. When tensions flared briefly, police intervened and escorted the group away, later busing them away from the area.
Back at the venue, the crowd rocked. Slogans echoed in the air. The police tried to calm down the protesters. At 1:30 pm, Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk arrived at the venue. The stage was being prepared and the microphone was also arranged. Dipke and Wangchuk addressed the gathering. As the day progressed, many people began to leave the place.
“Maybe next time we’ll see a better organized protest. But a message was sent,” said one supporter.
