The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday declared that it will organise a peaceful protest march in the national capital on September 5, accusing the Union government of failing to honour the commitments made on July 25 that had led to the withdrawal of its nationwide agitation.
The decision was taken unanimously at a meeting of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), which reviewed the progress - or the lack of it - by the Centre and BJP/NDA-ruled states in implementing the assurances given to the youth nearly a month earlier.
According to the CJP, the march will begin at India Gate and proceed towards the New Delhi Police Headquarters. It will be led by the families of students who died in connection with the NEET paper-leak controversy and those who, suffered police excesses during earlier demonstrations during Jantar Mantar protest. Students, youth organisations and young citizens from across the country have been invited to join.
“Our patience cannot be mistaken for weakness. Our good faith cannot become an opportunity for the government to betray the young people of this country,” the National Working Committee stated after the meeting.
The party recalled that on July 25, following the resignation of then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and three rounds of talks with Union ministers, it had withdrawn its 36-day-long protest at Jantar Mantar and related agitations nationwide “in good faith.” The government had publicly assured withdrawal of FIRs registered against protesters and organisers in Delhi and NDA-ruled states, an undertaking that no further punitive action would be taken, “honourable” compensation for families of deceased NEET aspirants, and further discussions on the CJP’s five-point examination reform charter.
“A month after those commitments were publicly made, the CJP National Committee expressed serious concern over the lack of concrete action and questioned whether the Government intends to honour its word,” the party said. It alleged that instead of implementing the promises, the Centre had “delayed action, hidden behind technicalities and avoided giving clear commitments, even before the Supreme Court of India.”
“On 25 July, solemn promises were made publicly at a joint press conference. The young generation trusted those commitments. The nationwide movement was withdrawn in good faith. A government cannot take the trust of an entire generation, use it to send young people home, and then quietly retreat from its own word. We will not accept this betrayal,” the CJP declared.
The party emphasised that the families who lost their children would walk at the front of the September 5 procession, with victims of alleged police brutality beside them. “Behind them will walk a generation demanding only one thing from its Government: KEEP YOUR WORD.”
CJP appealed to all young Indians, students, youth organisations and student groups to assemble in large numbers at India Gate on September 5 and participate peacefully. It reiterated that the protest would remain “peaceful and democratic” and insisted that the government must honour its commitments “in both letter and spirit.”
The announcement comes against the backdrop of the CJP’s rapid evolution from an online satirical response to a controversial judicial remark into a youth-led pressure group that staged one of the largest student mobilisations in the capital in recent years. The movement, founded by Abhijeet Dipke, had earlier forced the resignation of the education minister after weeks of sit-ins, a high-profile hunger strike by activist Sonam Wangchuk, and a contentious July 20 attempt to march towards Parliament that resulted in clashes and injuries.
With the NWC now formalised and the party preparing for its “Kya Bolti Public” outreach campaign, the September 5 march signals that the CJP is unwilling to let the July 25 assurances fade without visible delivery. Whether the government responds with concrete steps before the date or allows another round of street mobilisation remains to be seen.
