PTI
Mumbai
Claiming that the Centre was afraid of Gen Z and had imposed an “emergency”, leaders of the CJP on Friday questioned the security curbs ahead of their party’s planned demonstration in New Delhi and asked why the administration was “treating the youth like Pakistanis”.
The crackdown comes as the Cockroach Janta Party prepares for a massive demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Saturday to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Slamming the government’s pre-emptive measures, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke condemned the central government for restricting public movement to block demonstrators and said that the Centre “is afraid of Gen Z”.
Speaking to reporters at the Mumbai airport after returning from Bengaluru, Dipke maintained that CJP volunteers will proceed with the plan to protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday. “Shut down the entire country if you are so scared of the youth,” he said.
Speaking at an event in Mumbai in the evening, Dipke said that the BJP-led Centre was afraid of Gen Z, and dared the government to arrest him. “I feel like laughing (at the government’s move). Delhi is not a private property of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” he said.
On one hand, you say protests lead to inconvenience. On the other hand, you have shut down the Metro (stations), railways and blocked roads. Will this not lead to inconvenience?” he asked.
Why security forces were being moved from Kashmir and Naxal-hit areas to Delhi, Dipke asked, adding, “Why is the government treating the youth like Pakistanis?” If his arrest was the solution to the problems facing the country, the government should put him behind bars, he further said.
Targeting CEC Kumar, Dipke said he must face punishment for what he had done, and the SIR must be scrapped.
Cockroach Janta Party leader Saurav Das compared the situation in the country to Emergency, claiming that party volunteers were being detained in BJP-ruled states and some had been put under house arrest. Trains had not been shut down even during the Emergency, he quipped.
Referring to the Delhi police denying permission to the CJP to protest at Jantar Mantar, Das said it was absurd that one has to seek permission from the government for a protest.
