Abhijeet Dipke's parents. File.
The mother of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Wednesday claimed that her son had received a video threat coercing him to join the BJP or face severe consequences against his family.
Speaking to a Marathi news channel here ahead of Abhijeet’s return from New Delhi, his mother, Anita Dipke, said that the intimidation forced the parents to flee their home and take shelter at a relative’s residence in the Konkan region for 16 days.
Abhijeet formed the CJP, a satirical online movement on May 16, following remarks made during a Supreme Court hearing by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant. It transformed from an online parody into a nation-wide youth-led protest movement that culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last week.
Abhijeet was living in Boston, USA, when he formed the CJP. He subsequently returned to India to transition the digital campaign into street protests.
“Abhijeet received threats but initially did not tell us. He mentioned a video and advised me not to watch it,” his mother said, adding, “In the clip, he was warned that if he does not join the BJP, his parents would be dealt with sternly.”
She said Abhijeet later asked the parents to move out of their house and stay somewhere else for a few days considering the threat.
“Abhijeet told me that he himself was not afraid of such threats, but asked us to stay away from home as we are not used to such things. After that, we decided to move out. We went to our relative’s residence in Konkan, where we stayed for 16 days,” Anita Dipke said.
“He was worried as he was not with us at that time and also because his father suffers from low blood pressure,” she added.
His father said that being involved in social work means one will have to face criticism.
“But there are people who applaud your work. People whose thinking is ‘fixed’ indulge in criticism, while others deliberate on the happenings before reacting,” he said.
Dipke’s mother said Abhijeet was afraid of his father, and narrated an old incident to prove her point.
“Once he brought a plumber home for some repair work. However, the plumber broke the pipe, which led to water getting accumulated in the entire house. That day, he was supposed to travel somewhere around 5 pm. But he packed some clothes and stepped out at 12 pm to avoid facing the wrath of his father,” she said.
“He got the fault fixed immediately. But I did not tell his father about the incident for the next six months,” she added.
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