Mumbai: Bhagwan Dipke, father of Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, on Tuesday lashed out at the union government over the police lathi-charge on students during the protest march in New Delhi on Monday.
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The government had become arrogant and believed it was invincible, and this mindset reflected in its handling of the protest on Monday, Bhagwan Dipke told Hindustan Times over the phone from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. He referred to the violence witnessed during the march as “a government-orchestrated riot”, and said though he was worried about his son’s health and security, he would not urge Abhijeet to withdraw from the protest.
On Monday, thousands of protestors, mostly students, took to the streets in Delhi, responding to the CJP’s call for a march to Parliament seeking education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over irregularities in the NEET-2026 exam. The demonstration turned chaotic as police used batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse protesters after sections of the crowd climbed over barricades, leaving several students and police personnel injured.
Referring to Monday’s incidents, Bhagwan Dipke said, “They were well-qualified students who did not resort to violence or rioting. Their agitation was peaceful…Never before have students had to face such police lathi-charge during a protest.”
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Dipke said the students had been protesting at Jantar Mantar for a month and they had already informed the government about their march to Parliament on Monday, in case their demands were not met. The BJP-led government’s prolonged tenure had made it complacent, the retired engineer with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) alleged. “Governments should change every five years. They (the BJP-led NDA government) have been in power for a long time now,” he said.
Abhijeet Dipke’s mother, Anita Dipke, too criticised the police action, asking if students aged 18-20 years were being treated as terrorists.
“These children have been worried about their future and have been protesting peacefully for the past month. Instead of responding to their concerns, they were lathi-charged. The government should have listened to their demands and taken a decision,” she said.
Recalling the visuals of the lathicharge, she mentioned, “I watched the videos on my mobile phone and tears welled up in my eyes. What happened to these students was deeply distressing.”
