Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday alleged that the police action against students during the July 20 "Sansad Chalo" march could only have been ordered by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and demanded his resignation over the crackdown.
Addressing reporters at his residence in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after returning from the month-long CJP-led agitation at Delhi's Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak, Dipke claimed democracy in the country was under threat and accused institutions of failing to uphold democratic values.
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Backing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's demand for Shah's resignation, Dipke alleged the Union home minister was responsible for ordering force against protesting students.
"Amit Shah should definitely resign. There is another thing being said: that the Cockroach Janta Party is receiving funding from outside or that the movement is being run from outside. If this is happening then it reflects the failure of a person like Amit Shah. If the CJP is being run from outside then what kind of 'Chanakya' is he? The order to use force against students on July 20 must have been issued by Amit Shah and no one else," Dipke claimed.
"Saving democracy is not merely an Opposition issue now. The people of the country will have to come together (to save it)," he said.
Referring to central investigative agencies, Dipke alleged they had been used for political purposes.
"There is a question mark even on judiciary. We all have seen how ED and CBI were used to break parties like the Shiv Sena and the NCP. The big institutions in the country had a duty to keep democracy alive and not create dictatorship of a single man. They let it happen. To stop this, not only the Opposition, but even the people will have to come together," he asserted.
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Dipke also criticised the appointment of Pralhad Joshi as the new Union education minister following the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan.
"If the Education Minister of the country applauds rapists, this means another weird man has been brought in after removing Dharmendra Pradhan. What message is being given to the country? They cannot do anything else because their party is full of goons. People like Ram Rahim (a rape convict) come out on parole during their tenure. This government supports goons and rapists," he alleged.
Responding to Yoga guru Ramdev's criticism that Gen Z had defamed India's culture through the Jantar Mantar protest, Dipke defended the agitation, saying it was carried out within the constitutional framework.
"We have fought for our rights against the paper leak in a constitutional way. If agitating with photos of Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar in a legal way is defaming culture, we have done it. Baba Ramdev should look into Patanjali about which the Supreme Court has made adverse comments in the past," he maintained.
He added, "Gen Z can handle the country and its culture well. He (Ramdev) should concentrate on Patanjali else it may go out of business."
He also extended support to farmers' movements, saying the CJP would stand with them whenever required.
"Farmers also want their children to have successful careers. Earlier they stood with us in our agitation. If farmer leaders require our support, we will stand with them. Wherever farmers need us, we will stand with them. I also belong to a farmer family. Many of us are from farmer families," he said.
Targeting the police, Dipke said law enforcement agencies should act in accordance with the Constitution rather than political directives.
"If not, they (police force) should switch to 'khaki chaddi' (half pants) and stand before the BJP headquarters, saying 'main bhi chowkidar'," he remarked.
He added, "If the police fear video recording from agitators, that means they have something wrong going on in their minds. Cameras were there on my face round the clock (during Delhi stir), but I did not fear. The police in this country should follow the Constitution. They don't belong to a party but they belong to the country. They are not those who will run on BJP's WhatsApp forwards."
Dipke further alleged that Delhi Police had brought trucks loaded with stones near the Jantar Mantar protest site ahead of the July 20 march as part of a plan to implicate protesters.
Dipke alleged that trucks carrying stones were brought near the protest site by Delhi Police on July 19 and the morning of July 20. He claimed he had personally seen the vehicles, including a damaged van, and had questioned the police about them in a post on X.
"This was part of a plan by the police to show that the agitating students did stone pelting. I also met the DCP (of the area) over it and I was told the truck was carrying debris from a construction site. This all may have been part of a plan by BJP goons and the Delhi Police," he alleged.
(With PTI inputs)
