CJP Announces March to Police Headquarters, Expresses 'Serious Doubt' Govt Will Honour Its Word

New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) national working committee said after it met on Monday (August 24), that it has would hold a protest march from India Gate to the Delhi Police Headquarters on September 5. The student-youth outfit has announced that the parents of deceased NEET victims and victims of police brutality would lead the march.

"With the government continuing to delay and avoid fulfilling its assurances, the CJP national working committee has decided to resume peaceful mobilisation," it said in a statement. It noted that members of the committee had expressed "serious doubts" about whether the government would honour its committements.

The statement refers to victims of police action on July 20, when the march to parliament was thwarted with lathi charge, tear gas, water cannon and the use of pellet guns.

The meeting was organised two days after the CJP said the Union government had failed to keep its promises made when the month-long student-youth agitation against exam irregularities was withdrawn.

After the discussions on Monday, the outfit issued a strong condemnation of the government’s "failure to honour the commitments made to India’s youth on July 25, particularly those concerning the withdrawal of FIRs against students and protesters".

The primary demands of the CJP for the government are the withdrawal of criminal cases against the Jantar Mantar protesters and compensation to the families whose wards died by suicide after the NEET Undergraduate test was cancelled. These demands are yet to be fulfilled, the outfit said.

"Any attempt to now dilute, delay, reinterpret or dishonour these committments would constitute an unnacceptable breach of trust: a 'vishwasghaat' with the youngsters of the country," the CJP had said in an earlier statement on August 22. These concerns have been reiterated in the latest statement.

Matters came to a head during an August 18 hearing in the Supreme Court of India when, the CJP says, the Union government did not commit to withdraw cases against the protesters. It said that the court thrice asked for the detailed list of cases filed against the youth protesters and sought to invoke its special powers to revoke the cases.

"Despite the [Supreme] Court repeatedly asking for the list [of FIRs to be withdrawn], the Union government did not commit to providing it," the outfit said on August 22. It said this prevented the Supreme Court from withdrawing the charges against the students.

The CJP withdrew its protest on June 25 after the Union government, represented by Cabinet minister J.P. Nadda and Minister of State Jitendra Singh, shook hands over both the withdrawal of cases against agitators across India and the compensation demand.

At the time, the CJP had said it was calling off the agitation 'in good faith' and based on an understanding with the government.

"All measures necessary to secure the government's fuflillment of its promises will be on the table, including another round of peaceful nationwide agitation if need be," the statement said.

Over the last several weeks, teams led by CJP volunteers and others have fanned out into schools across the country, taking stock of the teaching infrastructure and exposing severe deficiencies in them.

Meanwhile on Monday, CJP founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke also wrote to education ministers of all states seeking details about the number of schools in need of repair, teacher vacancies, school shortages, details of non-teaching duties assigned to schoolteachers, allocations made towards schooling in recent budgets and the availability of computer, sporting and other facilities in government schools.

In several states including Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, FIRs have been registered against YouTubers and others who have highlighted the derelict condition of school buildings.

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