‘Only to save one man’: Dipke questions detention of protesters and Opposition leaders

Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke accused the Centre of using the October 10 protest crackdown to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He urged political parties, civil society groups and unions to join a Tricolour gathering in Delhi on Friday

New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre, alleging that the police crackdown on protests on October 10 was “only intended to save one man” — Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

Addressing a press conference here, Dipke said, “Since the media report claiming differences within the poll panel was published, the government has been using all its system and machinery to protect Gyanesh Kumar. All student organisations and youths have been fighting on the streets of Delhi for the past few days. They are being dragged along the roads just to save one man, Gyanesh Kumar.”

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He pointed out that even Opposition leaders “were not spared”.

“Even the LoP (Rahul Gandhi), former Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan were all detained, just to protect Gyanesh Kumar,” he added.

Referring to the crackdown on the CJP-led protests on October 10, Dipke said, “Probably, it was the first time in the country that the Railways were shut down, again only for Gyanesh Kumar. Not satisfied with shutting down the Railways, they shut down the Metro and closed Metro stations across Delhi. For whom? For Gyanesh Kumar. Still not satisfied, they called in forces from Jammu and Kashmir.”

“If all this was not enough, the government is now waging war against its own countrymen,” he remarked.

Referring to the judicial custody of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, he said, “You have even called unfurling the Tricolour a violation of law. Just for Gyanesh Kumar? You have brought Delhi to a standstill, turned the city into a border, like the India-Pakistan border. You have called in all the forces to Delhi… All this for one Gyanesh Kumar? Why is Gyanesh Kumar so important to Narendra Modi? If he is not helping the BJP win elections, why is Narendra Modi providing him with so much protection?”

The CJP chief further remarked, “‘One nation, one election’ is just a slogan; the real intention is ‘one nation, one party’… If you want to detain student leaders, activists and Opposition leaders like this, declare an official emergency. What are you afraid of?”

Dipke reiterated his call for a ‘Tiranga Assembly’, urging people to gather at Central Park in Connaught Place at 5 pm on Friday to wave the Tricolour in protest against the arrest of his party’s co-conveners, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.

He urged political parties, civil society members, labour unions and farmer unions to join the gathering, setting aside their political differences.

“We have to come together to save our democracy. If our vote is protected, only then will democracy be saved. Ashutosh and Saurav have been jailed for waving the Tricolour. Waving the national flag cannot be a crime. Nothing is more important than the Tricolour, and Gyanesh Kumar is surely not,” Dipke asserted.

The press conference was also addressed by AISA national president Neha Bora, former JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, actor Prakash Raj and others.