Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday warned the government against allegedly targeting students who participated in the Jantar Mantar protest, saying the student community has the power to change the government. He said the government should stop troubling students, as they are not terrorists but the future of the country.
Dipke was given a grand welcome in his hometown, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, in Maharashtra. He met his parents after 40 days and expressed happiness over the success of the student protest, saying that the students of the country had won their first difficult battle. He also visited the statue of Dr B R Ambedkar near Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University to pay respects to the chief architect of the Constitution.
Dipke said their protest over the paper leak achieved a major success with the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He warned the police to stop what he described as the witch-hunting of students.
Dipke said a larger agitation would be launched if the police and the government continued to harass students for participating in the protest demanding the education minister's resignation.
He added, "Students are the future of India, but they are harassed by the police. The police are selectively visiting the students’ homes and colleges and targeting them. The students are also threatened by slapping police cases. Student lost their blood for the success of the protest because they want a better future.
"Today, we took the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. If people in government continue to trouble our students and youths, then we will not hesitate to launch a massive peaceful protest once again to dethrone the people in power and change the government. They should not underestimate the power of the youth," Dipke warned.
He also said that while the protest at Jantar Mantar had ended with the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, it was not the end of the movement but part of a longer battle to reform the education system for the bright future of students.
"This is just the beginning, and long way to go. The government should not presume that students' anger has decreased due to Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. If needed, we will launch a fresh agitation on a much bigger scale," Dipke said.
Dipke also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying Modi should resign and become an influencer, as he is very good at it, and hand over the post of Prime Minister to someone who is serious about students' future.
Talking to reporters at his home later, he questioned the use of pellet guns in Delhi.
''What was the reason for using pellet guns? Pellet guns should not be used against anyone. They (students) are citizens of our country and not terrorists.
Whether it be (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah, action should be taken against the person who gave orders to fire pellet guns," Dipke said.