Abhijeet Dipke
NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday said he was not intimidated by the attack on him during a protest in Jaipur and alleged that those involved were linked to the RSS.Dipke made the remarks after arriving at Nagpur airport ahead of a CJP protest scheduled at Samvidhan Square, where the party is demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET (UG) paper leak issue.“We are satyagrahis who follow Gandhi and Ambedkar. We are not scared of their attacks. It has come to my knowledge that the attackers belonged to the RSS. Whenever anyone raises their voice against this government or its ideology, such attacks are launched,” Dipke said.Asked who he believed was behind the assault, Dipke said: “There were some people belonging to the RSS, and there is nothing new in it. Whenever someone speaks against the government or their ideology, they do things like this,” PTI reported.Referring to claims that he had previously met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had links with the RSS, he added: “Is that why they attacked me yesterday?”Dipke alleged that the assault was aimed at shifting public attention away from the issues being raised by students.“We will not deviate from our issues; you attack us as much as you want. We will continue our protest peacefully and democratically. Our main issue is that more than one crore students have suffered injustice, and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has to take responsibility for it,” he said.His remarks came a day after he was allegedly slapped multiple times by a group of youths during a CJP protest at Jaipur’s Shaheed Smarak over the alleged NEET paper leak, flaws in the education system and rising unemployment.The protest drew hundreds of participants carrying placards against corruption and examination irregularities, while also demanding the resignation of Pradhan over the controversy surrounding the NEET examination.According to police and eyewitnesses, Dipke was being carried on the shoulders of supporters when several youths from the crowd allegedly struck him. The incident triggered a scuffle after CJP supporters caught hold of some of the accused before police intervened and brought the situation under control.Police later arrested five persons in connection with the incident and launched an investigation. The accused were identified as Rohit Sharma, Rakesh Gurjar, Ajay Sharma, Kuldip Singh and Niket.Despite the disruption, the protest continued, with demonstrators raising slogans against paper leaks, corruption and unemployment.Following the incident, Dipke wrote on X that physical attacks were a sign of ‘fear and cowardice’ and vowed to continue his movement peacefully.CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka also alleged that the attack was politically motivated and claimed the accused were linked to the BJP, a charge that has not been independently verified.The Jaipur demonstration was part of the party’s wider ‘Justice’ campaign, under which protests have been organised in several cities over the alleged NEET paper leak and broader concerns relating to youth employment and education.Earlier, similar protests were held in Bengaluru, where large numbers of young people gathered despite heavy rain. Actor Prakash Raj and several youth organisations had also joined the campaign demanding accountability over the alleged examination scam.Dipke has announced that the party will continue its agitation and plans to march to Delhi on June 20 as part of its ongoing campaign.
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CJP founder has appealed to students and young people in Nagpur to join Tuesday’s protest at Samvidhan Square. Authorities have made elaborate security arrangements for the event, with police expecting more than 2,000 participants to attend the demonstration.
