Abhijeet Dipke claims CJP activists receiving police notices threatening October 10 protest ‘could turn violent’ | India News
NEW DELHI: CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday targeted the centre and alleged that “One Nation, One Election” was merely a slogan and alleged that the government’s intention was to establish “one nation, one political party”.He also claimed that activists of the Cockroach Janta Party were being served police notices and pressured against participating in protests.“I have said multiple times that the Maharashtra Police is the best police force in the country, and the Delhi Police should learn from them. But it is heartbreaking that the Chandrapur police served notices to CJP workers, telling them not to participate in the agitation at Jantar Mantar. They also asked about the source of the expenses for travelling to Jantar Mantar,” Dipke said.Dipke questioned how police could predict that the agitation would turn violent. He also questioned the police directive to CJP activists against making social media posts that could allegedly lead to violence.“We speak about (Mahatma) Gandhi and B R Ambedkar. Do they think it is violent?” he asked.The CJP had earlier welcomed the INDIA bloc’s proposed protest on Tuesday, saying its own October 10 mobilisation should be seen as a broader call by the youth rather than an event led by any particular organisation.CJP co-convener Saurav Das said everyone, including political parties, student organisations, activists and members of the public, should assert their rights through peaceful protests.CJP co-convener Saurav Das said the organisation welcomed the INDIA bloc’s planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday.“We welcome all peaceful protests. Everyone should make efforts, be it INDIA bloc or other student organisations or activists, or common people. Everyone needs to assert their rights,” Das told a press conference.Das said repeated protests indicated that people were not being heard. “If people are hitting the streets repeatedly then there is a problem,” he said, adding that taking to the streets was the “last resort” for people who felt their concerns were not being addressed.At the press conference, Das also claimed that the CJP had received information from “well-wishers” within the establishment that its leaders could be arrested ahead of the October 10 protest. “Well wishers have informed us that meetings are taking place and there is a high possibility that CJP leaders could be arrested,” he claimed. “It does not matter if we are arrested or detained because this fight is about the young generation.“Even if we are arrested or detained the protest will go on because this is the fight for our future,” he asserted. “Fear of FIR, fear of jail has evaporated — it won’t work anymore.”Das said Jantar Mantar had become a “symbol of hope and victory” and asserted that protesters would sit wherever police stopped them. “Wherever police stops us, we will sit there and that will become Jantar Mantar,” he said.Das also referred to the Supreme Court’s Monday remarks on the controversy surrounding Form 6, accusing the Election Commission of misrepresenting the court’s position. “The EC sought to clarify in its press statement that the Supreme Court upheld changes in Form 6. Today, the Supreme Court has said the EC lied,” he said.Chief Justice Surya Kant, during a hearing on Monday, said the Supreme Court had not approved any modification to Form 6. The clarification assumes significance as the EC, in its September 26 statement following a meeting of the full commission, had said the “declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court”.On the CJP’s October 10 mobilisation, Das said the protest should be viewed as a broader youth movement rather than the initiative of a particular organisation. “You should not consider the call for protests on October 10 as our call or someone else’s call. This is the call by the youth and Gen Z. We are one part of that.”His remarks came against the backdrop of an online exchange over the weekend between the CJP and sections aligned with the Congress, after a social media post compared CJP national convener Abhijeet Dipke with AISA president Neha Bora. Dipke and Bora rejected any suggestion of rivalry, while CJP leaders accused sections of the “liberal ecosystem” of attempting to undermine Dipke.
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AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj also weighed in, cautioning against replacing one form of “hero worship” with another.The exchange brought differences between the CJP and sections of the Congress into the open. Some Congress leaders have been wary of the CJP’s emergence, given the AAP background of several of its prominent faces, while the AAP has backed its recent mobilisations.
