NEW DELHI (The Thursday Times) — Abhijeet Dipke, the activist who built India’s youth-led “Cockroach Janta Party” (CJP) into a protest movement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, has called Modi “the biggest coward India has seen,” saying it was “unfortunate” that he held the country’s highest office.
In a roughly eight-minute video statement posted to X a day after his own release from Delhi Police detention, Dipke accused Modi of hiding behind “police, courts and the state machinery” to intimidate critics, rather than confronting dissent directly. He argued that real strength lay in continuing to speak out against a stronger adversary — not in deploying the power of the state against young activists.
The statement came as two of Dipke’s CJP colleagues, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, remained in judicial custody at Tihar Jail. A Special Executive Magistrate extended their detention by two days on Monday. Das and Ranka had gone to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to fly the national flag and were subsequently sent into five days’ judicial custody, with Dipke saying their court hearings had been repeatedly postponed.
Dipke said he had spoken to Das’s mother the previous day, quoting her as saying her son was “not one to break so easily.” He described the pair as having appeared in court “smiling” despite their detention.
The CJP has led two major waves of protest against the Modi government since May 2026, the first over irregularities in India’s national medical entrance exam, NEET. The movement traces back to a social media post by Dipke responding to remarks by a Supreme Court judge that were widely read as comparing unemployed Indian youth to cockroaches; the judge later said his comments had been misconstrued. The protests culminated in the July resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, a rare cabinet exit under Modi.
In his latest statement, Dipke also accused Modi of being a “sell-out” to US President Donald Trump, claiming the prime minister had surrendered Indian interests under “a little pressure” from Washington. He further criticised the government’s record on jobs, referencing an earlier remark by a senior BJP figure that appeared to dismiss youth unemployment by citing roadside snack-selling as a viable livelihood, and asked why that figure’s son now led the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Dipke, who said he had been jailed twice by the Modi government, argued that the crackdown was backfiring and drawing more young Indians into the movement rather than deterring them.
The claims made in Dipke’s statement are his own and have not been independently verified. There was no immediate response from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Modi government, Delhi Police or the courts beyond confirmation of the extended custody of Das and Ranka.∎
