Prateek Tanmay
For a moment, it did not register. Then Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), sank to his knees, overcome by shock and joy, realising that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had resigned.
Rising to address students and volunteers who had spent 36 days with him at the protest site, Dipke said, “We have done it. We have bloody done it.”
Pradhan’s resignation had been the central demand of the CJP-led protest. “What did they say? That there are no resignations in this government. For 36 days, every day they asked me this question… These people won’t give resignations, everyone told me.”
He said Pradhan’s resignation demonstrated the power of a united youth movement. “The world bows down, and one who makes it bow is needed,” he said, adding that the protest had secured “justice” for students who had died by suicide following the NEET paper leak.
He said attempts to break their resolve had failed. “They were sitting in the rain… Police cut off the water supply, still you sat. They closed the police station, still you sat. They made many attempts to break your courage. But your courage can’t be broken,” he said.
“When Hindu and Muslim rise above politics, when we talk about issues, then the nation will do well. This country’s youth will talk about education. This country’s youth will talk about the future. (They) will talk about employment,” he said.
Dipke, who had returned to India from the United States to lead the agitation, said the movement had disproved those who had argued that the government could not be forced to act.
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“Many people said, ‘Do you think you will go to India? Will a revolution come to India?’ It has come,” he said. “The youth of this country have shown that if they come together, they can make anyone bow.”
He told the crowds: “Don’t make me a hero because of Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. The country has been ruined because one person has been made a hero.”
Also addressing the Chief Justice of India, Dipke said, “Justice Surya Kant, thank you so much for calling us cockroaches. If you didn’t say it then I wouldn’t have come back to India” – the CJI has clarified that his remarks about cockroaches during a court hearing was only in the context of those who had entered the legal profession using fake degrees and that he was not referring to all youth for whom he had great respect.
Away from Jantar Mantar, the CJP and the government reached an understanding after Pradhan resigned. The CJP agreed to call off the protest after the government agreed not to pursue legal action against the protesters and compensate the families of NEET aspirants who ended their lives, and look at the CJP’s five-point charter on examination reforms.
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At a press conference with Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh at the Constitution Club of India, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said, “Cockroach Janta Party declares that we withdraw the agitation in good faith, with the understanding that the agreed-upon terms will be executed within the agreed-upon timelines.”
Ashutosh Ranka, also a CJP spokesperson, said: “All our demands have been accepted, so we request the protesters to withdraw immediately and return home peacefully. We will inform you of our future strategy or any other issues. But we request the protesters to withdraw immediately.”
Nadda and Singh shook hands with Das and Ranka. Nadda said the government had considered the demands raised by the CJP and accepted them. “The five-point charter you gave me is related to reforms in education examinations. We will think deeply about it, and after talking to your delegation, we will try to do whatever we can,” he said.
“So these were their demands. I think the government has sympathetically considered all the demands they had made and has also accepted them,” he said.
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A key point of discussion was the police action and cases registered during the agitation. Nadda said the government would provide the protesters with copies of the FIRs and assured them that no retaliatory action would be taken.
On compensation for the families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide, Nadda said the government was sympathetic to their plight and would provide compensation in accordance with the applicable rules.
“Regarding compensation, the government has clearly said that we also sympathise. There will be compensation according to the rules and regulations; whatever maximum will be possible will be given to them,” he said.
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