New Delhi, July 10:
The Cockroach Janta Party announced that it would march peacefully to Parliament on the first day of the monsoon session on July 20, even as its protest at Jantar Mantar entered the 20th day amid heavy rain on Thursday.
The youth-led outfit, which has been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities, accused the Delhi Police of preventing the protesters from bringing tarpaulins to the protest site despite heavy rain.
In a statement issued on Thursday morning, the CJP said its Parliament march on July 20 would begin from Jantar Mantar along with educator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since June 28.
The CJP called upon students, parents and citizens from across the country to join the march to seek justice for students who allegedly ended their lives after glitches in competitive examinations surfaced, to demand a transparent and credible examination system, and to press for Pradhan’s resignation.
In an X post on Wednesday night, Wangchuk appealed to people across the country to join the march, saying Parliament was the appropriate forum to raise the issue.
“Thanks for all your messages to break my hunger strike, but that wouldn’t help the 20 students who committed suicide, nor will that help protect the mountains of Ladakh or the rivers of India…
“If you really want to help, then do a little more than messages from comfy couches; come to Delhi and to Jantar Mantar on July 20, when the monsoon session of Indian Parliament starts. Together, we’ll start a very peaceful march to the Sansad and appeal to our honourable MPs to take the issue up and find a lasting solution,” Wangchuk’s post read.
Meanwhile, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke shared a video on X, showing him confronting Delhi Police personnel over their alleged refusal to allow tarpaulins at the protest site despite heavy rain.