Police in India’s western state of Maharashtra filed a case against Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the viral Indian youth protest movement Cockroach Janta Party, after he carried out a surprise inspection of a government-run school.
Officials said an initial legal complaint was filed at the Ausa police station in Maharashtra by a teacher, Sayyed Shamshadbano Khairatali, of the local Zilla Parishad Urdu school.
The complainant stated that the prominent youth leader entered a government school without permission, disrupted official work, and threatened the teachers.
Mr Dipke, 30, had been pressing the Indian government at the federal and state level to fix run-down, state-run educational institutions that provide free or subsidised education to millions of Indian students from all economic backgrounds.
open image in galleryHe led a rare successful campaign against the federal education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in June this year, after 21 students died by suicide over question paper leak of a prestigious medical competitive exam. The charged Gen-Z-led campaign resulted in the resignation – a primary demand from Mr Dipke’s movement – of the federal minister in July.
Mr Dipke has since then been visiting government-run schools in his home state Maharashtra to highlight the deficiencies faced by the students.
The complainant claimed that Mr Dipke and his team entered the school without permission, sat among students, enquired about the problems they were facing, which he said caused obstruction to educational and government work.
He added that the CJP founder filmed his interaction with the students and shared it on his social media accounts.
One of the videos purportedly shows students at the school accidentally revealing they were brought in from another school nearby to show that the school the CJP leader was visiting had an active classroom. Mr Dipke is seen expressing shock. Officials from the school are yet to respond to this allegation.
The complainant claimed the school was defamed by Mr Dipke over the incident. He said Mr Dipke called for the suspension of teachers behind the incident.
open image in galleryPolice officials have filed charges of assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging their official duty, trespassing, criminal intimidation and criminal defamation under the Indian penal code.
However, Mr Dipke has continued his campaign and on Monday asked education ministers across Indian states to present data on government school infrastructure, teacher vacancies, and funding.
“It has been 80 years since India gained independence, yet children in many government schools still do not have access to safe drinking water, functional washrooms, proper classrooms, or even something as basic as benches to sit on. No child should be forced to study in such conditions,” the Boston University graduate said in a letter shared on his social media accounts.
“They are being treated worse than animals,” he said, adding that his campaign was “not about politics or any one government”, but focused on the “future of our children.”