Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over police deployment during anti-CEC protests in Delhi, asking, Why are you against Tiranga?
In a separate post on X, Dipke accused the government of restricting peaceful demonstrations and defended the partys right to protest, saying citizens must be free to question elected leaders and demand accountability.
In a post on X on Friday, Dipke targeted the Modi government over the heavy police deployment at a gate where protesters were seeking to display the national flag.
“Heavy police force deployed at the gate just to stop Tiranga. Why are you against Tiranga, @narendramodi?” Dipke wrote.
The CJP founder’s remarks came amid protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the police restrictions imposed during the demonstrations in Delhi. The party has been demanding accountability from the authorities and defending its right to organise peaceful protests.
CJP founder says peaceful protests do not hurt businesses
In another post on X, Dipke argued that peaceful demonstrations were not responsible for economic disruption. Instead, he blamed government restrictions on public movement and internet services for affecting businesses and daily life.
“Businesses do not suffer because of peaceful protests. They suffer when the govt decides to shut down an entire city, suspend internet services and restrict the movement of its own citizens and turn the city into a war-zone,” he said.
Dipke maintained that the CJP had followed Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of peace and non-violence since its inception. He said the party had organised demonstrations in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Nagpur, claiming that all of them had remained peaceful.
He also alleged that he had been assaulted in Jaipur but had chosen not to retaliate.
“I was personally assaulted in Jaipur, but even then, I chose not to retaliate because responding to violence with violence goes against everything we believe in,” he said.
Dipke added that the party preferred to exercise its constitutional rights rather than resort to physical force. He said its strength came from its commitment to constitutional values and that no amount of provocation would make it abandon those principles.
‘Demanding answers from the government is not anarchy’
The CJP founder asserted that questioning the government, protesting injustice, and holding public officials accountable is not anarchy.
“Despite this, there are constant attempts to portray us as anarchists simply because we refuse to remain silent. But demanding answers from the govt is not anarchy, protesting against injustice on the streets is not anarchy, and questioning those who hold public office is certainly not anarchy,” Dipke said.
He described these actions as fundamental expressions of democracy, arguing that citizens must be able to question those in power without being treated as a threat to public order.
Dipke accuses ruling party of hypocrisy over protests
Dipke also accused the ruling party of applying different standards to protests depending on whether it was in power or in opposition.
“The very party that is in power today spent decades organising protests, taking to the streets and questioning the governments of the day when it was in opposition,” he said.
He argued that restrictions, intimidation and police crackdowns of the kind he alleged were being used against the CJP could have prevented today’s political leaders from reaching positions of power had they faced the same treatment when they were in opposition.
“It is deeply hypocritical to celebrate protests as a democratic right when you are in opposition and treat the same act as a threat to public order when you come to power,” he added.
CJP urges government to respect citizens’ democratic rights
Dipke said the party was not seeking special privileges or preferential treatment but wanted the freedom to exercise rights available to every citizen, regardless of which political party was in power.
“We are simply asking to exercise the rights that belong to every citizen of this Republic, irrespective of which party is in power,” he said.
He urged the central government to allow the CJP to question elected representatives, demand accountability and speak out against injustice.
“A govt that has been elected by the people is bound to listen to the people, not silence them. Democracy does not end once the votes have been counted,” Dipke said.