Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke was on Monday slapped during a protest in Jaipur, videos widely shared on social media showed.
An unidentified man can be seen in the videos repeatedly slapping Dipke as he was being carried on the shoulders of his supporters.
It was not immediately clear who attacked Dipke and what the motive was. Two persons had been detained, PTI quoted unidentified police officers as saying.
The protest was being held at the Shaheed Smarak. Hundreds of young persons had gathered at the site to protest the alleged mismanagement in the conduct of competitive exams and other problems such as unemployment.
After the incident, Dipke said that “physical attacks are a sign of fear and cowardice”.
“We will continue to raise our voices peacefully,” the 30-year-old said on social media. “I am a follower of Gandhi and Ambedkar, and I will keep fighting this battle with peace and love. PS: Dharmendra Pradhan must resign!”
After holding a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on June 6, the Cockroach Janta Party – which started as a satirical political campaign – has been organising demonstrations in several cities demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Dipke has also announced an indefinite sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar on June 20 if the demand is not met.
Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.
Also read:
- ‘We want accountability’: Voices from the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest in Pune
- ‘They have sold themselves’: At ‘cockroach’ gathering in Delhi, protestors rage against the system
- Watching the Cockroach Janta Party – cautiously
- Why India’s Opposition parties should be worried about the cockroach movement
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