Stop ‘witch-hunt of students’ or brace for new stir: CJP to govt.

A day after warning of fresh protests over the Centre’s alleged violation of the assurance that no punitive action would be taken against protesters, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday called on the government to stop “targeting and witch-hunting” students.

“If the harassment of students at the hands of the police continues, the Cockroach Janta Party will respond with a massive peaceful protest soon,” he posted on X.

The Bihar government said it had withdrawn FIRs against protesters registered before 6 p.m. on July 26, and the governments of Assam and West Bengal have followed suit. However, there has been no word from Delhi Police on the issue so far.

When reached for comment, Delhi Police PRO declined to comment. Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma said, “We have not received any orders or official communication to withdraw the FIRs yet.”

The police have not made any arrests in the case so far. A total of 14 FIRs were registered and 600 people were detained and subsequently released in the South East district where the prohibitory orders were imposed.

On July 25, the 36th day of the protest, the CJP called off its stir after the Centre agreed to its three main demands — ouster of Dharmendra Pradhan as the Union Education Minister, compensation for the families of those who ended their lives after the cancellation of NEET on May 3, and withdrawal of FIRs against the protesters and an assurance that no future action would be taken against them.

‘Credible apprehension’

The CJP also expressed concern over the Supreme Court’s directions on Tuesday allowing State authorities to proceed with the investigation of the FIRs registered in connection with the protests.

“We now have a credible apprehension that the Government of India and BJP-ruled states may seek to use and weaponise this order of the Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to continue FIRs against individual protesters and subject them to great harassment. This was precisely our concern from day one: that courts could be used, directly or indirectly, to achieve political ends by targeting peaceful dissent,” CJP’s chief spokesperson Saurav Das stated in a post on X.

Later in the day, Mr. Das said the Centre had not yet fulfilled its promise to share by Tuesday night the written assurance of the agreement they reached three days ago.

“They met me in the evening and conveyed the court order. I shared my objections. There has been no response from them after that,” he said.