‘Waiting on the remaining demands’: CJP after Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation

Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation from the post of education minister is a “victory for democracy”, said Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, who proceed to read the names of all 20 students who had died after the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test’s paper leaked. “This is for them,” he said, adding that the resignation shows that sustained public protests can force accountability.

Pradhan resigned after weeks of nationwide protests , which began with the demand for accountability for the NEET UG paper leak and other irregularities, but ballooned into a massive expression of youth dissatisfaction and dissent. Although a key demand of the protesters – Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation – has been met, CJP is still not done. Its “demand roster” has been updated.

Along with the Rs 1 crore compensation for the families of every student who died and restraint for protesting students at demonstrations, the CJP now demands “a public apology from the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Delhi Police” – a reference to the brutal crackdown on protesters, with tear gas, water cannons, pellet guns, and batons, since Monday. The police action brought still more protesters to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and made heroes out of ordinary citizens in Mumbai . CJP’s post said, "Jantar Mantar and entire country is still waiting on the rest of the demands”.