Nagpur: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday met the family of Akanksha Chaturvedi, whose suicide is linked to stress over the NEET paper leak and subsequent retest, before leading a massive protest at Samvidhan Square.
Dipke, who has been spearheading a nationwide campaign seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, demanded that the Centre sanction compensation of Rs 1 crore each to all NEET victims. The protest served as a launchpad before Dipke takes center stage at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on June 20.
At a press conference under heavy police protection, Dipke alleged that individuals who attacked him during a recent agitation in Jaipur were members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Dipke claimed that an examination of the social media profiles of the attackers revealed photographs of them wearing the organization's traditional uniform and carrying lathis.
The satirical-political group founder also announced that CJP's next big move would be at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on June 20, a day before the NEET re-exam, to intensify its demand for Pradhan's resignation. "On June 20, we will not budge till Pradhan resigns," he said. Dipke also called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologize to families of students who allegedly died by suicide due to examination-related stress. "PM organizes events like Pariksha Pe Charcha, but he hasn't even put out a condolence message on his social media handle," he said.
Later in the day, hundreds of youths and students gathered at Samvidhan Square carrying banners, placards, and posters demanding Pradhan's resignation and seeking greater transparency in the conduct of national-level examinations. "The Centre used the Indian Air Force to transport NEET re-exam papers, but if this method was so foolproof, why wasn't it utilized earlier?" he said.
Launching a sharp attack on the BJP, Dipke drew parallels between the present government and the British colonial administration. Referring to the treatment of activist-engineer Sonam Wangchuk, he alleged that dissenting voices were being suppressed in a manner reminiscent of the colonial era.
(Inputs by Siya Punyani & Saara Shrivastava)
