Is the CJP a Transitory Trend or the New Face of Youth Defiance?
A Swift Launch at Jantar Mantar
The Cockroach Janata Party’s show at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Saturday was significant in more than one way. Abhijeet Dipke, whose brainwave resulted in a tsunami of public protest, has successfully arrived from Boston and went straight from the airport to the concerned police station, asked the police permission to hold a rally within a few hours at the historic Jantar Mantar venue, got it easily and organized the show. The gathering was not huge. The modest estimate was 3,000. Dipke has put it at 7,000. However, the quality of the gathering is rather encouraging to the organizers. There were students from West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and many other states across the country.
The CJP announced on Tuesday that it is going to organize a protest rally at Pune on June 11. The rally will be held at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in the education capital of Maharashtra at 4 pm. The main demand would be the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Education Minister. Dipke wrote saying, “Let us meet at Pune. Hail Maharashtra.”
Going back to the Jantar Mantar meeting, some handful of persons in saffron dress came to the venue to allegedly disrupt the meeting. Interestingly all of them were promptly taken into preventive custody by Delhi police. Reports said that the number of police at the venue outnumbered the audience. There was no occasion for the police to act. The boys were well behaved and the authorities were unusually tolerant. Same protest by the Youth Congress on the same day was suppressed with iron hand. The audience at the CJP meet comprised mostly students and some parents. The famous environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk from Ladakh and CPM (ML)-Liberation-general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya from Bihar also attended the meeting in support of the CJP’s demands.
The Examination Crisis and Deepening Frustration
The demonstrators confined themselves to leakage of papers and the crisis in the student community. Concerns about NEET examination paper leak, irregularities in CBSE examination and some other entrance tests are sought to be ventilated. In all, more than a crore of students have been affected. Six students committed suicide on account of the bungling by the government. The CJP leaders and the participants in the demonstration demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They have given one week time for Dharmendra Pradhan to resign or the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack the minister. Otherwise, they said they would come up with a fresh protest programme.
The Opposition’s Dilemma: Engage or Introspect?
“What to do with this government? No employment, no proper exams. The youngsters of the country are not scared of the government. We will continue to fight until he (Mr. Pradhan) resigns. Someone must be held accountable,” said Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the online movement CJP. “We will discuss with the members of the community, take their suggestion and accordingly decide on our next move,” he said.
The CJP featured in the discussions of INDIA bloc on Monday in New Delhi. While some leaders questioned the popular support to the CJP meant that the people of the country have lost faith in the opposition, others said the platform has to be engaged. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, who appeared online, asked “Have people lost faith in us?” He said the opposition has to be on the ground throughout the year and raise the issues. He is understood to have said the bloc should project a leader. Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah and the General Secretary of the CPM(ML) Dipankar Bhattacharya said the CJP has to be engaged.
The Generational Vacuum in Indian Politics
In fact, voices from within the Congress have spoken on the CJP. Earlier, senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor said the massive online traction for CJP had revealed the mood of the country’s youth. In an interview to the Indian Express, he said the online phenomenon shows the “extent to which there is frustration and dissatisfaction that the public can express through being able to tap into an online initiative like this.” Tharoor encouraged the CJP community to participate in the electoral process as true change often happens through mundane processes.”
The youth voices cannot be neglected. In recent elections Assam, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu were won by Himanta Biswa Sharma, Suvendu Adhikari and Joseph Vijay, who are in their 50s and who hold some appeal for youth. BJP also has younger leaders. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is 54. Maharashtra CM Fadnavis is 55. Goa and Delhi CMs Pramod Sawant and Rekha Gupta are also in their early 50s. The national president of the BJP, Nitin Nabin, is only 45.
Congress has Rahul Gandhi at 55. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy at 56. The Congress cannot boast of many young leaders at state level. In Karnataka, 78- year -old Siddaramaiah was replaced by 64 -year -old DK Shivakumar. In Kerala, Satheesan was selected as CM. He is in his 60s. Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is 62.
So, it is important to know what is going on in the minds of youth. The youth leaders in national parties and regional parties should get in touch with the leaders of CJP. What will the CJP do next whether their demand that the Union Education Minister should resign meets with success or failure. There are many issues bothering the people. For instance, the question of manipulation of the elections by the Election Commission favouring the NDA government. The question of price rise, inflation in real terms, divisive politics being followed by the BJP by othering the Muslims, Godi media and demolition of democratic institutions are some of the issues waiting to be taken up.
What Lies Ahead for the Movement?
The future of CJP depends on two things. First, how the government plans to tackle it is very important. The Modi government was first shaken and clamped ban on the website, Instagram and other social media devices dealing with the CJP. The BJP leaders said there is a Pakistani hand behind the CJP movement. There appears to be some rethinking on the part of the government. It is evident when we see the police readily giving permission to hold a meeting in Jantar Mantar and arresting saffron clan hooligans who came to disturb the meeting. Second, what is the character of the youth behind the movement? Are they planted by any party just as Anna Hazare before the Congress government was thrown out and the BJP dispensation was installed in 2014? Many allegations made by Anna Hazare and his supporters proved to be highly exaggerated or false. The BJP leaders are highly skilled in skuttling the movement by buying out the protagonists. Abhijeet Dipke held in his hand the autobiography of Ambedkar while coming out of Delhi airport on the 6th. He should have held Ambedkar’s constitution, instead. The constitution is being violated and the need of the hour is to protect the constitution.
What kind of attitude will the CJP have towards the other established opposition parties in India? Will they join hands with the opposition leaders who have already declared their support? It is too early to say how serious they are. Are they just peripheral and emotional? Are they made of a sterner stuff to build a nationwide movement against the NDA regime? Only time can answer these and more such questions.
Prominent Journalist
Dr. K. Ramachandra Murthy is a versatile journalist with a distinguished career. Dr. Murthy began his extensive career with Andhra Prabha of The Indian Express group in Bengaluru. He was editor of Udayam, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothy. Dr. Murthy founded and edited HMTV news channel and The Hans India, an English newspaper. He was also editorial director of the Telugu newspaper, Saakshi. He was awarded Ph. D for his research work in rural reporting. Dr. Murthy’s five decades in journalism showcases his influential roles across both print and electronic media. He wrote the political biography of NTR published by Harper Collins.
