Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday welcomed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks defending Gen Z protesters, and urged the BJP leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop branding protesting students as “anti-national”.
His response came a day after Bhagwat, while interacting with Gen Z and Gen Alpha students at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai, said that young people have a right to protest over genuine issues and should not be labelled anti-national.
Speaking to ANI, Dipke described Bhagwat’s statement as significant and said he fully agreed that students’ concerns were legitimate and that peaceful protest was their democratic right.
Calls on BJP to change its stance
Dipke urged Bhagwat to convey the same message to the BJP leadership, saying that as a mentor-like figure to the ruling party, his views should influence its approach towards student movements.
He alleged that several BJP leaders had previously used derogatory language against protesting students.
Referring to former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Bihar minister Nitin Nabin, Dipke claimed students had been described as the “B-team of terrorists” and a “virus”. He expressed hope that the party would now heed Bhagwat’s remarks.
Dipke also supported Bhagwat’s call for an investigation into misleading videos circulating on social media, claiming that authorities should determine which content was genuine and which was fabricated.
Extends support to Jharkhand protests
The CJP founder also expressed solidarity with the ongoing student protests in Jharkhand, saying party volunteers had already reached the state and were providing food to demonstrators.
He said he planned to visit once his health permitted but stressed that student leaders should remain at the forefront of the movement rather than CJP alone.
Dipke said the organisation would continue functioning as a pressure group to demand accountability, arguing that collective public action had already led to significant political outcomes, including a ministerial resignation.
