Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday alleged that Indian politics over the past decade has been centred on the Hindu-Muslim agenda, arguing that such issues do little to address pressing concerns like unemployment.
Addressing a press conference in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar a day after leading a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, Dipke reiterated his demand for Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the alleged NEET paper leak and CBSE OSM glitches.
He also maintained that the CJP movement is apolitical and will not align itself with any party.
1. ‘Hindu-Muslim agenda can’t provide jobs’
The CJP founder said the country’s political discourse needs to shift towards issues that directly affect young people, particularly employment and education.
“We are seeing that the country’s politics has moved to the Hindu-Muslim agenda in the past 10-12 years. This issue can’t provide jobs. We need to shift that focus, and the government’s priorities should also change,” he said, reported news agency PTI.
While stressing that the agitation would continue beyond the demand for Pradhan’s resignation, Dipke said employment remains a major concern for the country’s youth.
“After Dharmendra Pradhan resigns, we will prepare an agenda for bringing changes in the education system. This will not end here because employment is also a key issue in the country,” he added.
2. Renews demand for Pradhan’s resignation
Defending the demand for the education minister’s resignation, Dipke said accountability was missing in the wake of repeated examination-related controversies.
Referring to the alleged NEET paper leak, he questioned, “How can the system work efficiently if no one is taking the responsibility? If any company is facing losses because of someone, will that loss turn into profit till that person resigns?”
According the news agency, he went on to say, “A person is fired from a company after a couple of mistakes, but here, the papers of exams organised by the government are frequently getting leaked,” he said, before asking, “‘How can we believe that you (government) are ready to accept mistakes till the resignation is finalised?'”
3. Hits back at criticism of protesters
Dipke also took aim at remarks allegedly made about those who participated in Saturday’s protest at Jantar Mantar.
Pointing to the turnout at the demonstration, he said, “A huge crowd at Jantar Mantar and photographs speak about the people. How many people will they label as Pakistanis? Will they call the agitating students, the Opposition and media asking questions as Pakistanis?”
The Boston-educated further asked, “Are the ‘IT cell’ people (of the ruling parties) only Indians?”
4. ‘CJP movement cannot be compared to neighbouring countries’
The CJP founder rejected comparisons between his movement and youth-led protests and regime-changes seen in some neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh.
“Because, here (in India) there is a system. Those who compare our movement with the ones that occurred in neighbouring countries should know that the Jantar Mantar was very peaceful. Youth who attended the agitation came from all corners of the country,” PTI quoted CJP founder as saying.
He added that future agitations would be organised on a larger scale while continuing to remain peaceful.
5. ‘No association with any political party’
Even as political leaders and organisations have expressed support for the agitation, Dipke insisted that CJP would remain independent.
“We have not spoken to leaders of any political party. This movement is for Gen Z. Those who want to support us can support us externally, but we will not associate ourselves with any political party,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
