Don't look at Bangladesh or Nepal, follow Gandhi: CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke

Published 3 August 2026 · local

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has rejected comparisons between his group's recent student protest in Delhi and the upheavals in Bangladesh and Nepal

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has rejected comparisons between his group's recent student protest in Delhi and the upheavals in Bangladesh and Nepal, saying Indian students should draw inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi instead. In an interview to PTI, Dipke defended the protest over alleged exam irregularities and insisted that the demonstrators had followed the Constitution and maintained peace despite police action. Read Full Story "Protests in Bangladesh, Nepal are being used to defame us; we are different," Dipke said. "We showed during the recent protest in Delhi that we were following the Constitution and holding our demonstration peacefully. Parallels to the protests in Bangladesh and Nepal are being used to defame us," he added. Rejecting remarks by exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen linking the Delhi protest to the 2024 agitation in Bangladesh that led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government, Dipke said India did not need to look outside for models of protest. "We don't need to look at Bangladesh or Nepal when we have Mahatma Gandhi from whom the world takes inspiration to protest," he said. 'STUDENTS DISPLAYED RESTRAINT' Dipke said some people may have drawn parallels with protests in Bangladesh and Nepal because of the police action during the Delhi demonstration. "The students in India were not violent or aggressive. They got their heads, arms and legs broken but displayed restraint and sat peacefully at Jantar Mantar," he said. He also argued that education should become a central issue in electoral politics.

"If you don't make education the main agenda in election, it means you are not thinking about the future. Education is an investment for the future of the country," Dipke said. DEMAND FOR NEET VICTIMS' COMPENSATION Dipke criticised the government over what he described as a delay in compensation to families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide. "They have money to topple government overnight. You can buy MPs and MLAs by spending hundreds of crores of rupees, but when it comes to the NEET victims and their kin, they look at the norms," he said. He warned that CJP could launch another agitation if its demands were not addressed. "The government should meet our demands as soon as possible, or else we will launch another agitation," he said. Dipke also urged Gen Z protesters to maintain restraint and not imitate the conduct of politicians. He said young protesters should "not reach the level of BJP leaders" who, according to him, abuse even in Parliament and at public rallies. "There is some difference between us and the goons and that difference should always be there," he said. SUPPORT FOR JHARKHAND STUDENTS Dipke extended CJP's support to students protesting in Jharkhand over alleged irregularities in the state public service examination and other recruitment tests. He backed their demand for a CBI probe and reforms in recruitment agencies, saying the movement was against the system rather than any political party.