Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], August 16 (ANI): Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has alleged that the father of a volunteer with the outfit was allegedly assaulted in West Bengal's Bankura district and had subsequently died. The outfit has announced that a team of its members will visit the State and has demanded the immediate arrest of those involved.
"Our volunteer, Abdul, who was also constantly present at Jantar Mantar- the day before yesterday, he went to visit a school in his village in Bankura district under the "School Thik Karo" campaign," Co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka said on Sunday.
Ranka added that the school was in Indus block and that the volunteer Abdul Hafiz, also identified as Sheikh Riqhe was beaten up by "BJP goons" after he reached home and his Abdul's father who tried to intervene was also beaten up and sustained serious injuries. "And this morning, his father passed away. So, our entire team is going to Bengal tonight. We will rest only after getting justice for Abdul and his family," Ranke said.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke in a post on X said, "Abdul went to inspect the govt school in Bengal where he once studied. He lost his father after they were attacked by goons (allegedly from BJP) for speaking up about the poor condition of govt schools. It makes my blood boil that people are being murdered simply for demanding better schools. CJP stands firmly with Abdul and his family. We demand the immediate arrest of those responsible for his father's death. A CJP team will visit West Bengal and ensure that Abdul and his family get justice. And to the hatemongers who think they can silence us through violence: we are not going to back off. Attack our members, threaten us, try to intimidate us, we will only fight harder. We will not be silenced. We will not be intimidated. We will keep fighting for better schools."
Meanwhile, Ranka announced that the organisation's next nationwide campaign will focus on government schools, with the initiative titled "School Theek Karo" (Fix the Schools).
Speaking in Jaipur, Ranka said the campaign would seek to draw attention to the condition and functioning of government schools across the country, particularly in rural areas. He said around 70 per cent of India's population continues to live in villages, where a large number of children depend on government schools for their education.
"In the last few years, 95,000 schools have been closed in this country. Attempts were made to close 10,000 schools in Rajasthan and 30,000 schools in Uttar Pradesh. So, this campaign of ours has been started to fix our government schools, with a special focus on villages. Even today, 70 per cent of the people in our country live in villages, and they are all dependent on government schools. So, we are fighting for those children. We appeal to the people of the country to visit their respective government schools and audit them," Ranka said.
"Request the Sarpanch and the government officials there to fix those schools. And if they don't fix the schools, then you should protest there. Basic education should be our constitutional right, it should be our fundamental right, and we will not let our children's future be ruined," Ranka said.
Ranka also spoke about the ongoing protests by students and job aspirants over alleged irregularities in Jharkhand recruitment examinations in Jharkhand, saying that the CJP had supported the students from the beginning and that members of the organisation had participated in the campaign. He said that the organisation was in touch with student leader Devendra Mahto.
"Our team has been present there since the first day. Our core team members, who actually organized the Jantar Mantar protest, have been there since day one. We have constantly supported them. Both Dipke and me have been in touch with Mahto and all the organizers there since the first day. Dipke has also maintained contact with Mahto. And we have unequivocally supported all their demands since the first day. We believe their demands are genuine, and we have demanded from the government since the first day to accept them," Ranke said. (ANI)
CJP team to visit West Bengal, seek justice for death of volunteer's father
