He was beaten, I stayed awake all night: Dipke's mother on his 49-day protest

Relief and joy replaced weeks of anxiety for the parents of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) Founding President Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday after the campaign led by their son culminated in Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation as Union Education Minister.Speaking from their home in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dipke's mother Anita Dipke said she was proud of her son but recalled the fear and sleepless nights she endured throughout the agitation."I am very happy. I feel very proud. I was scared at times because he was beaten. I kept worrying about what might happen to him. They slapped him. I felt terrible. I couldn't sleep. I stayed awake until three or four o'clock in the morning. I couldn't eat either. Both of us lost our appetite and couldn't sleep. Since June 7, we haven't felt like doing anything at home. He has done a tremendous job. He's still very young, yet he has accomplished something so significant at such a young age. I am extremely proud of him," Anita said.She said she now wants her son to return home after weeks of protests. "I will ask him to come home early. If he does not come, we will go and bring him back. I will hug him tightly and perform an aarti for him. The last time he was here, he did not allow me to do that, saying he was not some prominent person," she said, fighting back tears.Expressing happiness over the outcome of the campaign, Anita said, "His honesty has won. The support of the youth helped him and he achieved a big victory." She said she remained worried ever since Abhijeet returned from the United States and launched the agitation demanding Pradhan's resignation over the NEET paper leak issue. After the CJP protest began at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, she said she could barely sleep."I was worried all the time. I had sleepless nights. Every morning, I was scared to even look at my phone, fearing I would see a disturbing video. I would immediately call his friends to ask if he was safe," she said.According to Anita, Abhijeet's friends reassured her that he became emotional whenever he learnt she was worried and that they stayed by his side throughout the agitation.Recalling the day the protest began, Anita said she cried because of worry and pain. "Today, the tears in my eyes are of happiness," she said.Calling Pradhan's resignation the "victory of the youth", she said thousands of young people worked tirelessly to make the campaign successful. She added that she did not believe her son would launch a political party and instead expected him to continue working in the social sector.Abhijeet's father, Bhagwanrao Dipke, said the family lived under constant fear after his son launched the Cockroach Janta Party despite having no political background."We were all worried when he took the political plunge. He went against my wishes. Nobody in our family had any political background," Bhagwanrao said.He said the family had requested Abhijeet not to return to India from the United States in June because they feared he could be arrested."We were so scared that during the initial days we left home and stayed in Konkan. We were under tremendous pressure. There were threats of physical harm to us," he said.Bhagwanrao said the prolonged anxiety affected the family's health."We became so weak that we could barely stand. We were eating barely one roti a day. We could neither eat properly nor sleep. He was attacked twice during the agitation," he said.Recalling the events of July 20, Bhagwanrao said watching a police official pull down Abhijeet's microphone reminded him of a battle scene from the film Border."I felt that if my Abhijeet fell into the hands of the police, he would not survive. By God's grace, he is safe. I honestly feel he should now come home and stay with us," he said.Commenting on Pradhan's resignation, Bhagwanrao said the former Union minister showed "a big heart" by stepping down while asking students to focus on their education."This should not be seen as anybody's victory or defeat. Leaving such a high post requires a big heart. Even while resigning, he thought about the interests of students," he said.Describing his son as a well-educated person who had carefully thought through his decision before launching the agitation, Bhagwanrao said he did not know what Abhijeet's next political step would be."He had earlier worked with Arvind Kejriwal and has seen politics closely. I personally do not like politics, so I have no idea what he will do next. But I will be with him," Bhagwanrao said.- EndsWith agency inputsPublished By: Akshat TrivediPublished On: Jul 25, 2026 20:44 IST