During the party’s maiden protest at Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur, Dipke was lifted upon his arrival by supporters who were carrying him on their shoulders to the stage. However, just as Dipke entered the ground and was waving at the crowd, 5-6 persons allegedly started slapping and assaulting him.
On the stage, he said, “I was assaulted while I was entering. No matter how many times we’re attacked, we don’t have to raise our hand, only the weak raise their hand.” He requested his supporters to set the accused free. “Leave those who raised their hands on me. Don’t beat them up, it is my request. Let them attack us, we will not raise our hands. I can get beaten up ten times more, but no one should raise their hands.”
He said that he won’t be silenced and even when he was returning to India from America, he was ready to go to jail, telling his supporters that “Our protest will be peaceful.”
“We will continue to raise our voices peacefully. I am a follower of Gandhi and Ambedkar, and I will keep fighting this battle with peace and love,” he said on X.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said that “The people who attacked Dipke all belong to a national party. Their faces have been identified. All of these miscreants will be exposed.”
While being whisked away by the police, one of the accused, Rakesh Gurjar said, “Ye machhar, jihadi mansikta ke log (These mosquitoes with jihadist mindset)… Abhijeet bargala raha hai (Abhijeet is misleading the people), paper leak is just an excuse.” Gurjar said that he is a “nationalist from Jaipur” and claimed that he is not associated with any party; his social media indicated that he is associated with the RSS. Meanwhile, the Congress party condemned the attack on Dipke.
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Rajarshi Raj Varma, DCP (South), Jaipur, said that, “some individuals slapped CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and attempted to disrupt the atmosphere. A scuffle and altercation occurred at the protest site, prompting the police force present at the site to take immediate action and arrest five individuals under Section 170 of the BNSS. Further legal action will be ensured after a written report is made by the affected parties.”
The five have been identified as Rohit Sharma, 25; Rakesh Gurjar, 30; Ajay Sharma, 25; Kuldeep Singh Shekhawat, 27; and Niket, 28.
Another person, Bewesh Adhikari from Sikkim, who has been participating in CJP protests, was also allegedly assaulted and lost one of his phones in the scuffle during the assault on Dipke.
The programme began with two minutes silence for students who have died by suicide due to paper leaks, bullying, etc.
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In his address, Dipke said, “You can’t handle a paper; how can you handle this country? Many CBSE students have been messaging me saying they have been wronged. They said they worked hard and gave exams but got incorrect marks. They told me they will get marks following a re-check but that they will have to pay for the re-check. I don’t understand this country’s system. It is the government’s fault for giving incorrect marks, then why are students being made to pay for that mistake? The government should have some shame for first making a mistake and then taking money from students. All the papers should be checked for free.”
He said that “they won’t understand this because they themselves haven’t been to a school. You are illiterate, hence you can’t conduct exams properly.” Dipke said that there is often a “server down” issue when students appear for online exams but there is no server down when it comes to elections, adding that “not a single rupee of electoral bond was leaked, but NEET paper was leaked… there is a leak whenever it comes to the future of the country, of students.”
Behind Dipke, the large banner on the stage read “shantipoorn pradarshan (peaceful protest)”, following the Jaipur police’s directions for a peaceful protest to be capped at 800 protesters. However, if the number seemed more, it was partly due to the large number of youtubers and independent journalists present on the spot. Around Dipke, his supporters waved the Tricolour, photos of Bhimrao Ambedkar, and copies of the Constitution, with songs reminiscing Bhagat Singh being sung prior to Dipke’s arrival.
Dipke also took on Rajasthan Education minister Madan Dilawar for his comments, quoting him as saying that “it is not a big deal” in the context of the NEET paper leak. Last month, Dilawar had said, “The investigating agencies must have found that there are some irregularities and decided to cancel it. Toh is mein koi badi baat nahi hai (So it isn’t a big deal). Wherever irregularities are found, the government will work to fix it.”
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“If your children were also giving these exams, would you have said the same thing? No, because you send your children to America. I was in America, I saw the children of these BJP leaders and other parties; they were studying with me,” Dipke said.
Dipke also cited the collapse of a government school in Jhalawar which led to the death of 7 students last year, “Had there been a BJP MLA’s child in that school, or even the child of the MLA’s driver, would that school’s roof have fallen?”
“One thing is for certain, there is no value for your life in their eyes. Hence, words like cockroach and parasite were used, because these people think they will remain in power forever… they anyway say they are mahamanav. I want to ask mahamanav ji, ‘you stopped Russia and Ukraine war, but you can’t stop a paper leak?’”
“You call me a Pakistani. You call all the people gathered here as Pakistani. You brand the media which asks questions of you as Pakistani. You brand this country’s Opposition as Pakistani. Then I want to ask, who is Bhartiya? These IT cell persons?” Dipke said, adding that, “By dividing us in the name of Hindu Muslim, they are distracting us from the main issues… the government’s priority is not employment, or education. The government’s priority is to divide you in the name of Hindu – Muslim.”
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He asked his supporters to gather in Delhi on June 20 for an indefinite protest demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
