Cockroach party says Modi government broke India protest promise

NEW DELHI – The Cockroach Janta Party, which spearheaded India’s biggest student protests in recent years, accused authorities of violating an agreement by pursuing participants and reiterated it will remain a pressure group rather than enter electoral politics.Police are continuing to investigate cases against some students who took part in the New Delhi protests in July despite a government agreement to withdraw legal action, CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka told Bloomberg Television’s Menaka Doshi.The group had called off the protests after the agreement was reached.“There were clear instances where this agreement was reneged,” Ranka said on Aug 10, citing cases that remained active in several states and the detention of protesters.“That is a clear sort of breaking away from the promise made by the government. Our team has been on top of it. We have been very clear that none of the protesters being arrested will be tolerated.”India’s Home Affairs Ministry didn’t immediately respond to request for a comment. The standoff tests whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government can resolve tensions with a youth group that has mobilised students outside traditional party politics.Any perception that authorities are reneging on concessions could renew protests over education and job prospects.CJP has threatened fresh protests if the government breaks its promises, though Ranka didn’t say on Aug 10 how the group would respond.Ranka, 30, is a former McKinsey & Co management consultant who emerged as one of the prominent faces of India’s youth-led movement.An engineering graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Ranka later earned a master’s degree in public administration from the London School of Economics.Police are investigating several cases against protesters, including some related to social media posts that allegedly mocked Modi.The Supreme Court has said states may withdraw cases against student demonstrators, except those involving serious offensces, a position also backed by the government.“We sincerely hope the govt will follow the promise,” Ranka added. “If the senior Cabinet minister’s verbal agreement has no value in the country then essentially what we are saying is that the government can’t be trusted. I am pretty sure the Indian government doesn’t want that.”His comments come as student-led protests continue in the eastern state of Jharkhand, where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is the main opposition party, over alleged exam irregularities.Ranka said CJP would raise questions over issues related to youth irrespective of the political parties at the helm. “We are not standing with or against a political party. We are standing with the youth of this country,” he said.Last week, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the group won’t become a political party, opting instead to remain a “pressure group.”It plans to push for education reform, job creation, greater accountability from public institutions while staying out of electoral politics.CJP, which began as a satirical movement a few months ago, will travel across India to gather ideas for reforms directly from the public to ensure that “the genuine grievances of the common people are brought to the mainstream.” “Pressure groups like us, political movements like us, are very much part of democracy because we can stay out of regular politics and force the government to address the burning issues of this country,” said Ranka.CJP plans to rely primarily on donations from the public to fund its nationwide campaign, a strategy Ranka said would help preserve the group’s political independence. BLOOMBERG