Activist Sonam Wangchuk has firmly dismissed allegations suggesting that the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest movement he supports has any foreign connections. He stated that his stance is grounded in data, discussions with CJP members, and his observations on the ground.
Sonam Wangchuk was a key part of the CJP protests led from Jantar Mantar, starting in June, and resulted in the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam irregularities in July. Wangchuk was on an indefinite hunger strike in support of the protesters. “Yes, it was data. Our authorities, including the Lieutenant Governor, were saying that they have a huge following in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the US that I didn’t know about. So I went and looked at the analytics of their followers.
It turned out that 94 per cent of their followers were from India, and only six per cent were from other countries.”
On questions about claims concerning CJP founder, Abhijeet Dipke, including his educational credentials and the alleged links with Pakistan, Bangladesh, or US, Wangchuk said he had not conducted an elaborate investigation himself. Asked whether the assessment was partly based on data shown to him, Wangchuk said it was.
So, based on that, and seeing that there was no ill intention in this movement, I decided to support them. Because i was convinced there was nothing fishy, i gave them that cover.
I jokingly thought, “India is indeed the Vishwaguru (world leader)-India started this, and now a ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ is forming in Pakistan, so at least India is leading in protests,” Wangchuk said You might have issues with them eating burgers or their past jobs, but they are not being handled by any outside power, he said, adding that it was clear from their conversations and analytics. Especially since they were saying they might be arrested when they landed in Delhi, I did two things: I said I would join them, and if they were arrested, I would go on a hunger strike. On being pressed whether seeing screenshots of the data was enough for him to conclude that the people involved were trustworthy and that he could publicly associate himself with their cause, Wangchuk said he remained open to further scrutiny, while maintaining that he did not believe the people involved had been paid by any outside force.
