NEW DELHI: Abhijit Dipke wants the protest to wait. The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder on Tuesday asked those who had joined the agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to go home and spend Diwali with their families.
In a video posted on X, Dipke spoke about two jailed colleagues, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, and grew emotional. He said the country would salute the two once they walked out of jail.
He also pushed back at those comparing the CJP's movement to the unrest in France, saying the protest in India and the situation in France were completely different.
"We are fighting hate, but we must make sure this hate does not enter our own minds. We must not become like those who hate us. Love, compassion and humanity are our greatest strength," he said.
On the Dussehra effigy burning in Delhi's Pitampura area, where a large cockroach effigy was to be burnt alongside effigies of Ravana, Dipke had a dry message for the organising Ramlila committee. A video of the preparations had circulated on social media. His response: "Thanks for the free publicity."
A front of organisations called People Against SIR, meanwhile, announced a nationwide march on Friday, October 23, named the "People's March to Reclaim Democracy". The front said the marches would be held at tehsil, district, state and national levels.
The Congress's National Students Union of India (NSUI), which stayed away from the CJP's movement, said its own agitation would continue. It held a countrywide effigy-burning programme on Tuesday demanding Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.
Das and Ranka, meanwhile, moved the Delhi high court against an order extending their judicial custody, seeking a night hearing. A magistrate court had extended their judicial custody to October 21, noting that their conduct showed no respect for law. They had first been sent to judicial custody for five days, extended by two more on Monday.