AHEAD OF his return to India on June 6, ‘‘ (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Tuesday that he was “counting on the people” and their support after landing in New Delhi over the weekend.
Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone from Boston, Dipke, who in a video message a day ago said he would stage a “peaceful sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar” on June 6 and demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over issues such as row, said he was ready for what would come his way.
“Honestly, I was nervous before the decision (to come back to India)…ab jo hoga dekh lenge (will see whatever happens). I am counting on the people – I am in this for the long haul,” he said. Highlighting that the “youth pressure group” he created less than a month ago had both a sizeable support base as well as structure, Dipke said, “We are preparing data (around the support base); but yes, people (who support the group) are being mobilised from across the country and there is now a structure in place,” he said.
Asked if he was prepared for the eventuality of police detention, Dipke said, “I will land at the airport and then we will go to the (Parliament Street) police station to seek permission. They may arrest me for a year or six months – but I am ready for whatever happens next.”
Dipke in a post on Tuesday announced that climate activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk will also join the protest at Jantar Mantar on June 6.
Wangchuk, in a video post, said he decided to express support to the CJP after being “convinced that they are immensely patriotic, that they are making a sacrifice to improve the country”.
“I had asked the cockroaches, in my previous post, to prove, to convince (me) that this Cockroach Janta Party is an expression of the Indian youth and not a conspiracy by foreign powers,” Wangchuk said.
“After that…Dipke ji established contact with me and shared data (regarding its support base) with me. When I spoke to him, I understood that they do not have any ulterior motive, that they are immensely patriotic, that they are making a qurbani, a sacrifice to improve the country,” he also said.
He said if Pradhan does not resign by June 5, he will join Dipke and Gen Z supporters of what is intended to be a “youth pressure group” from across the country at the sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar.
“On the 6th June, which is Saturday, they are calling people to so that we can demand the resignation of the Education Minister. Now, your and their reason could be the NEET paper leaks, or the CUET and exams, but for me, this is an even bigger issue,” Wangchuk said.
He said he had been striving and fighting to make improvements in the field of education for the last four decades. When he did not see “anything changing”, he got disappointed and felt the “need to do something”, said Wangchuk.
He said he hoped for either “a change or resignation” in the next few days. “If this does not happen even by June 5th, then out of compulsion, I too will join you all on 6th June to make this request in Delhi. So, I am coming to Delhi to join you all, and to join Dipke ji. You also let me know, are you coming?”
“Friends, I have always had a slogan: If not now, when? If not us, who? If not now, then when? And if not us, then who will bring change to India,” he asked.
Dipke, 30, is in Boston where he moved two years ago to pursue a course in public relations.
