NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka on Wednesday warned the Union government that the country’s youth would “take them down very badly” if it failed to address the protesters’ demands, describing the July 20 demonstration as only a “trailer”.Speaking to ANI, Ranka termed the ongoing agitation the “biggest movement in India’s post-independence history” and said millions more people could come to Delhi if the government did not accept their demands.“This is the biggest movement in India’s post-independence history… We have said this very clearly: what happened on 20th was a trailer. If the Govt doesn’t agree, millions more will come to Delhi because this time we will not hold back and stay silent… The Govt really needs to get its act together; otherwise, the youth of this country is going to take them down very badly,” Ranka said.Rejecting claims that the protesters were not “peaceful”, Ranka maintained that the July 20 march was peaceful and alleged that the situation escalated only after police used force against students.“A narrative is trying to be built that we will not be peaceful, but we are. The march on 20th was peaceful too but there was chaos only at the point where Police unleashed brutality and beat up students. The youth is sitting here peacefully for 31 days because we follow the principles of Gandhi and Ambedkar,” he said.Ranka also said the protesters would not allow any future FIR to be registered against those participating in the agitation and asserted that the protest would not end without such an assurance.“We have placed a very clear demand and Abhijeet Dipke had spoken about it. We will not led any kind of FIR or future FIR be lodged against any protester; the protest won’t end without that,” he said.He added that the leadership of the movement was not afraid of legal action.“As far as our team’s leadership is concerned, we are not scared of any FIR, we are ready to be arrested under UAPA and NSA from day 1. Jail is a small price to pay for our fight,” Ranka said.Calling for political parties to support the movement, Ranka said the protesters would welcome leaders from any party, including the BJP.“Be it any political party, even if they are people from the BJP, they should come together because this is a huge movement and the demand is genuine. We welcome all of them,” he said.Meanwhile, opposition MPs are set to stage a protest outside Makar Dwar of Parliament on Wednesday, demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.The protest has been tentatively scheduled for 10.30am. Opposition legislators will also raise concerns over alleged irregularities in the NEET UG examination and protest against the police action taken against students on July 20.(With inputs from ANI)
