Activist Sonam Wangchuk has rejected allegations of any foreign links to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest movement he supported, saying his decision was based on available data, conversations with its members and what he saw on the ground.
Because i was convinced there was nothing fishy.”, i gave them that cover. Sonam Wangchuk was a key part of the CJP protests led from Jantar Mantar, starting in June, and resulted in the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam irregularities in July. Wangchuk was on an indefinite hunger strike in support of the protesters. So, based on that, and seeing that there was no ill intention in this movement, I decided to support them.
On questions about claims concerning CJP founder, Abhijeet Dipke, including his educational credentials and the alleged links with Pakistan, Bangladesh, or US, Wangchuk said he had not conducted an elaborate investigation himself. Especially since they were saying they might be arrested when they landed in Delhi, I did two things: I said I would join them, and if they were arrested, I would go on a hunger strike.
“Yes, it was data. Our authorities, including the Lieutenant Governor, were saying that they have a huge following in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the US that I didn’t know about. So I went and looked at the analytics of their followers. “In hindsight, I don’t think they were paid off by anyone. But as you say about the university record, I am in full support of any investigation. Anyone who leads shouldn’t lie; if they make big claims that turn out to be small, it should be investigated. If a single person dies in some other context, the whole country rises. Look at Mohamed Bouazizi in the Arab Spring-one person’s sacrifice changed eight countries. That deeply saddened me. Since I am associated with education policy and these are its tragic manifestations, it moved me deeply. In front of that cause, small things didn’t matter. They were raising a voice for a genuine concern.”
It turned out that 94 per cent of their followers were from India, and only six per cent were from other countries. But at that time, based on what was visible, and after hearing that 20 children had committed suicide over this issue-which is what they were raising a voice for-that was the big issue. 20 kids giving up their lives is a massive, uncelebrated tragedy. Here, 20 children died and they are being forgotten unceremoniously.
Asked whether the assessment was partly based on data shown to him, Wangchuk said it was. I jokingly thought, “India is indeed the Vishwaguru (world leader)-India started this, and now a ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ is forming in Pakistan, so at least India is leading in protests,” Wangchuk said You might have issues with them eating burgers or their past jobs, but they are not being handled by any outside power, he said, adding that it was clear from their conversations and analytics. On being pressed whether seeing screenshots of the data was enough for him to conclude that the people involved were trustworthy and that he could publicly associate himself with their cause, Wangchuk said he remained open to further scrutiny, while maintaining that he did not believe the people involved had been paid by any outside force.
