CJP defends celebration visuals: It was 2 or 3 stars max, not 5-star hotel
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has pushed back hard against criticism over visuals of its volunteers dancing and celebrating after weeks of protest, with spokesperson
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has pushed back hard against criticism over visuals of its volunteers dancing and celebrating after weeks of protest, with spokesperson Saurav Das insisting the venue was nothing close to the five-star hotel it was made out to be. The visuals, which showed CJP workers celebrating what many are calling a hard-won movement rather than a mere protest, did not go down well with some who stood alongside the party through the agitation, several of whom felt the celebrations were premature while others were still struggling to get home. Read Full Story Asked directly about the criticism, Das rejected the framing outright. "One thing I want to make clear, whenever such visuals come, people tend to exaggerate a lot. It wasn't a five-star hotel. It was two-star or maybe three max," he said. According to Das, the gathering was held in a basement hall and was meant to honour roughly 150 to 200 volunteers, more than half of whom had travelled from other states and had spent 37 days on the road during the protests.
"They wanted to go back. We wanted to honour them," he said. He described the event as far more than a party. "We were sitting on the floor, we were hearing out their experience, taking feedback from them," Das said, adding that the interaction with volunteers preceded the dancing that eventually made it to social media. "Unfortunately, only the visuals of us enjoying and dancing came out. However, what preceded that was a heart-to-heart interaction with each one of those volunteers." Das also rejected any suggestion that the celebration meant the party had taken its eye off the ongoing negotiations with the government. "Just because, for example, I'm not on the stage doesn't mean that I'm not working. Same logic applies here as well," he said, adding that the party had "been firefighting from day one". He was unequivocal that the timing of the celebration was not a mistake. "I don't think there was any problem with the time. People wanted to go back home. We wanted to honour them. We wanted to listen to them. We wanted to thank them," he said, adding that volunteers were told the party would call on them again "when the time comes".
24-HOUR ULTIMATUM TO GOVERNMENT STILL STANDS Even as he defended the celebrations, Das reiterated that the party's ultimatum to the government over withdrawal of FIRs against protesters remains firmly in place, with a deadline that could see fresh protests called within a day. Das said the understanding reached after the third round of talks was that the government would furnish a written guarantee by Tuesday that all FIRs against protesters would be withdrawn, with no future retaliatory action. "We are hopeful that the government does share that copy with us in 24 hours' time. If it fails to do so, then we will give a big call, a nationwide call, for another round of protests here in Delhi," he said. He also rejected the idea that the party had agreed to a softer clause limiting withdrawal to only "peaceful protesters", calling such a caveat an invitation for the police to exercise "draconian power" in deciding who qualifies. APOLOGY DEMAND OVER BIHAR FIRING Das also renewed the party's demand for a public apology from the Rapid Action Force after visuals showed an AK47 being fired at protesters in Siwan, Bihar.
The BriefWire