E-Paper
'Pralhad Joshi was seen garlanding Bilkis Bano's rapists': Abhijeet Dipke on education mininster's appointment
Abhijeet Dipke warned the Centre of another sit-in if the demands of the CJP are not met.
Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Monday that even though their demand of the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as education minister was met, they do not support the appointment Pralhad Joshi in his place. Dipke said that Joshi was seen “garlanding the rapists of Bilkis Bano” and questioned would that make school girls fee.
“In place of him (Dharmendra Pradhan), who was made the education minister? It was Pralhad Joshi. He was seen garlanding the rapists of Bilkis Bano. Imagine how the school-going girls will feel on seeing such things. So, we do not support this,” the CJP founder told news agency ANI.
In 2022, when 11 men serving life terms for raping Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat riots were released early, Joshi had backed the move and said that decision was taken as per the law.
"When the government and the concerned people have taken the decision, I don't find anything wrong in it as it is a process of law," he had told NDTV in an interview.
Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as education minister on July 25 after over a month-long protest by the CJP at Jantar Mantar.
‘Will do another sit-in’
Dipke also warned the Centre of another sit-in if the demands of the CJP are not met.
Apart from Pradhan's resignation, CJP also demanded ₹1 crore compensation to the families of the students who died by suicide due to NEET-UG paper leak and no FIRs against protesters.
Dipke said that the Centre has not yet paid ₹1 crore compensation to the bereaved families and warned that if it is not done, the CJP may sit on another protest.
Also read: No more protests at Jantar Mantar? Supreme Court to hear plea against suitability of Delhi site
"We had also demanded ₹1 crore each as compensation to the families (of NEET aspirants who died allegedly by suicide). None of the families have received the compensation from the government. I have got to know that the govt has said that it will have to look into the rules & norms for this. When you have to buy MPs/MLAs, you spend crores of rupees, but to give compensation, you need to first check the rules. It means their intention is not right," he said.
Also read: 'We're different': Dipke defends CJP after Taslima Nasreen's 'Bangladesh 2024' remark
‘Nepal, Bangladesh comparisons to defame CJP’
The CJP founder also said that the comparisons of the student protest at Jantar Mantar with the uprisings held in Nepal and Bangladesh were being done to “defame” the satirical outfit.
“We are different,” Dipke said.
He was responding to the remarks made by exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on the CJP protest. She said on Sunday that while she did not follow the CJP protest in India, a clip of it reminded her of the 2024 student uprising in Bangladesh which led to the ouster of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
