CJP Movement Has Become Big Enough, Can’t Be Suppressed

By Dr. Gyan Pathak

Cockroach Janata Party movement was reported in a section of media as one of the reasons for abrupt removal of Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha on Friday July 17, 2026, who was replaced by Anurag Kumar. A day after, in the early hours of Saturday July 18, 2026, Delhi Police removed the activist on hunger strike for 21 days by force from the protest site and shifted him to Safdarjung Hospital, purportedly on the Delhi High Court Order to save his life. Government claimed this operation “smooth” but Delhi Police admitted in its statement that “slight commotion ensued” and said “we request the protestors at Jantar Mantar to peacefully vacate the place at the earliest.”

Union Government avoided talking to protestors and went ahead with the operation removal, which was done only two days ahead of CJP’s proposed protest march to the Parliament of India on July 20, when the Monsoon Session is scheduled to start, demanding resignation of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan over a series of exam irregularities and paper leaks including of NEET.

It is nothing but suppression of the democratic movement by force, said the opposition leaders and CJP activists, along with large number of writers, artists, celebrities and common people. CJP movement, which started as a satirical online movement on May 16, 2026, by Abhijeet Dipke in response to a disparaging slur used by the Chief Justice of India against unemployed youth, which he later clarified that he did not intend that, has grown enough now that analysts think could not be suppressed, because it has gathered huge support from all sections of society, including all opposition parties in the country.

Even after removal of Wangchuk, Abhijeet Dipke has announced to go on indefinite hunger strike. There are other young people also, who have announced hunger strike. Union Government is still not ready to talk to the protestors, and responded to the protest with coercion. They almost sealed off the protest site and created great logistical obstacles for the protestors. Now CJP activists and opposition leaders have even escalated their stance, vowed to continue the protest, and demanded even resignation of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The protestors are planning to make their proposed March to Parliament of India on July 20 a big success which is supported by many other organisations and opposition political parties. After Delhi Police request to the protestors to peacefully vacate the protest site at Jantar Mantar, Union Government is planning to defeat the purpose of the protestors on that day, with heavy deployment of the police force.

Monsoon Session is most likely to be stormy on account of the escalation of the protest outside the Parliament. However, the opposition is planning to stage protest within the house on the issue of “suppression of the democratic protest” of CJP by the Union Government and for protecting the Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, resignation from whom in already demanded by them.

One special occasion for opposition’s protest within the Parliament of India will occur when the Union Government will table a new bill named Vikasit Bharat Shiksha Adhisthan Bill, 2025, formerly known as the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill. The Bill was highly controversial in its old form. The new Shiksha Adhisthan Bill, 2025 proposes to replace the current University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) with a single higher education regulator.

The Opposition alleges that the Union Government is sabotaging the Higher Education in the country through this Bill and trying to inject Hindutva brand education. Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the provisions do not alter the existing legal framework. Dharmendra Pradhan will be in direct conflict with the opposition, because they have already demanded his resignation on exam irregularities and paper leak.

Leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly accused Pradhan of presiding over a corrupt, systemic failure regarding national competitive examinations, and alleged that the entire system is “fraud” citing rampant paper leaks and demanded his resignation for compromising with the futures of millions of students of the country. He had also accused Pradhan of being complicit in CBSE decision to award an on-screen marking contract to a controversial firm without adequate background checks.

After the removal of Wangchuk from the protest site, CJP chief Abhijit Dipke not only announced his indefinite hunger strike, but also said, “Now we will demand Narendra Modi’s resignation.” He addressed protesters at Jantar Mantar after being released from a brief detention during shifting of Wangchuk. “This antic by the RSS goons, of carrying Sonam-ji out… if they think this will end the protest, it won’t. We will stay right here. And we will march to Parliament from right here on July 20.”

NCP(SP) president Sharad Pawar has said, “The Centre didn’t handle the situation carefully, and it impacted the future of several students. The government remained a bystander as other political parties came to support him (Wangchuk). Leaders from Congress, NCP (SP), including Supriya Sule and many others, paid a visit there (Jantar Mantar) and raised a common demand.”

He said the protesters’ demands were genuine and aimed at safeguarding students’ interests, but no Union minister had visited the protest site despite being in Delhi. “It means that the government is irresponsible. This issue will not end here. As the Parliament session is scheduled to begin, it will be discussed there too,” Pawar said, adding that Wangchuk’s hospitalisation would not bring the movement to an end.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, “The prime minister changed the Delhi Police Commissioner just to arrest Sonam Wangchuk. Parliament is beginning, and he did not want this protest to continue. This is dictatorship. The government has no answers to the questions being raised by students and is instead trying to silence their voices.”

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has said, “He (Wangchuk) asked only for dialogue, yet this appeal has been met with silence for weeks. In a democracy, peaceful dissent deserves engagement, not silence. … Public trust is earned through transparency, accountability, and respect for democratic rights – not by suppressing peaceful protests or refusing dialogue.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray criticised the removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk from his protest site in Delhi, saying that the world is watching democracy being broken by force in the country, where even peaceful protests are no longer tolerated.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the forced removal of Sonam Wangchuk as a “black stain on democracy and the Constitution.”“ Whether it’s Prof. GD Agrawal, who sat on a fast unto death for 111 days to save Mother Ganga, or the Olympic wrestler from Haryana, whether it’s our 750 farmer providers, Dalits and Adivasis, or the 25 children sacrificed to the paper leak and their families, this tyrannical government has spared no one… In their eyes, anyone who raises their voice is an “Anti-National,” a “parasite”!” Kharge said.

CPI(M)’s Brinda karat said, “What happened this morning with Sonam Wangchuk was an act of bulldozing democratic and constitutional values. This is done directly under the direction of Home Minister Amit Shah.”

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “This undesirable action by the repressive BJP government has severely tarnished and fragmented our country’s humanitarian and democratic image on an international level … The BJP’s mindset is divisive; that is why wherever there is unity, harmony, and solidarity, the BJP, out of fear, reacts as a reactionary and disperses the movements. But the BJP has forgotten that today’s new generation is capable of bringing about an ideological revolution through ‘Digital Unity’. It has happened, it is happening, and it will happen again… .”

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has said, “This arrogance is wrong. Instead of crushing the Cockroach movement, improve the country’s education system. Coercion of Sonam Wangchuk is the defeat of the Modi government.”

Centre’s actions in relation to CJP movement and forceful removal of Wangchuk while avoiding dialogue with the protestors to resolve the issue have attracted widespread condemnation from the opposition and others. While the Parliament will see disruptions within during the monsoon session on the issue, the protest is likely to spread and intensify outside. (IPA Service)