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In Goa, FIR filed over candlelight march in support of Cockroach Janta Party
State BJP vice president Narendra Sawaikar was criticised after referring to protesters as “not just cockroaches also termites
A first information report (FIR) was registered on Wednesday in Goa over a candlelight march held on Monday and Tuesday at Goa’s Miramar beach in solidarity with the thousands of students participating in the Cockroach Janta Party-led protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
The complaint lodged by Nilesh Salgaonkar, joint mamlatdar and executive magistrate of Tiswadi said, “Unknown supporters/ protestors of CJP with their common object formed an unlawful assembly and without obtaining prior permission from the competent authority organised the protest under the pretext of extending solidarity for removing Sonam Wangchuk from his hunger strike.”
An FIR was registered under sections 189 (unlawful assembly) and 190 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Protesters gathered at Azad Maidan on Wednesday evening in solidarity with the on-going protests in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organised a protest march and gathered around the Congress headquarters condemning the latter for remarks promoting “sponsored anarchy and manufactured chaos” in the country.
State BJP president Damodar Naik said that the protest by the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, outside the Prime Minister’s residence was nothing but an assault on the country. The BJP denounced Gandhi and called for the restoration of law and order.
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Earlier on Monday, state BJP vice president Narendra Sawaikar was criticised after referring to protesters as “not just cockroaches also termites.”
Sawaikar, a former MP representing the South Goa constituency and currently the NRI Commissioner, wrote on X: “Cocroaches (sic) with the termites! Save the nation!”. Alongside he posted an AI-generated image of cockroaches and termites gnawing at a map of India modified to appear like a piece of rotting wood.
Posting the same image on Facebook, he wrote: “It’s not just cockroaches, they are termites!” While the Facebook post was deleted, the X post is still online.
