Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the online movement the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), has warned that protests against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan would continue unless he is removed from office or resigns within seven days.
In a post on X on Sunday, Dipke thanked the "thousands" of people who attended the group's protest at Jantar Mantar a day earlier.
Describing Saturday's demonstration as a "historic" show of strength, he said it reflected growing dissatisfaction among students and young people over issues concerning the education system.
Dipke said the agitation would intensify if action was not taken against the Union education minister within a week.
"Yesterday, thousands of us made history. Our peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar showed the government a trailer of what cockroaches are capable of when we unite," he wrote on X.
Claiming that most people who joined the demonstration had never participated in a protest before, he added, "They felt emboldened by our collective presence to express their sheer anger and frustration at the education system," he said, while thanking supporters, including students and children, who attended the event despite the summer heat.
"Change cannot happen if we don't make our voices heard," he stated.
The protest at Jantar Mantar was organised by the CJP, which has been campaigning on issues related to education and examinations. The youth-led movement, which has been demanding accountability over alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment tests, including NEET, CBSE, CUET and SSC exams, plans to intensify its campaign across the country.
Asserting that "this doesn't end here," Dipke accused Pradhan of wronging an entire generation. "If he is not removed or does not step down within the next 7 days, we will be forced to continue our protest on the ground," he said.
Dipke emphasised that the movement would continue to rely on peaceful methods and said the government could not ignore a united and non-violent campaign. "The government cannot touch a unified, peaceful movement. Us cockroaches don't ever need to fear them," he said.
Earlier in the day, Dipke also addressed reporters after returning to his residence in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district reiterating that protests will continue until Pradhan steps down.
''The protest we staged (at Jantar Mantar) was successful, as 6,000 to 7,000 people attended it. This agitation will go nationwide. We won't step back till Dharmendra Pradhan resigns,'' Dipke told reporters, adding: "We will roll out a further action plan to take this agitation nationwide."
On Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar demanding Pradhan’s resignation over alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment tests.
The demonstration drew participants from several states, according to the organisers, and featured speeches by students, educators and activists who criticised the Centre's handling of education-related issues.
Participants carried placards seeking the minister’s resignation and wore cockroach masks distributed at the venue. Protesters also raised slogans against what they described as “Hindu-Muslim” politics and shouted “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
At the protest, Dipke had alleged that the education system was failing students and called for accountability from the Union education minister
At a press conference in the capital, CJP spokespersons said they would wait a week for the Centre to either sack Pradhan or for the minister to resign voluntarily, failing which the agitation would be expanded nationwide.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who joined the protest, had voiced support for the demonstrators and urged authorities to listen to the concerns being raised by students and young people. CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI leader Annie Raja and activists from Left student and youth organisations also attended the protest.
The CJP, which emerged as an online campaign in May and claims over 22 million Instagram followers, had mobilised youth for the Delhi protest as a show of strength on the issue.
(With inputs from PTI)
