The members of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) got fresh assurances from government representatives about their safety after a late-night meeting, which temporarily defused tensions over a dispute about the alleged violation of an earlier agreement, the party said Tuesday.
Saurav Das, the Chief Spokesperson of the CJP, shared the statement of the meeting with the government representatives on the social media platform X, which reads, “The meeting with government representatives lasted nearly three hours. The government reiterated its willingness to drop FIRs filed against protesters, set free all those arrested, and send notifications to prevent further prosecution of protesters.”
Das added that the government did provide copies of town gazettes issued by the Bihar and Assam governments that ensured the withdrawal of the cases, releasing of the detainees and protection from any future legal action. He further said that the Government of India and other states under the BJP and NDA governments will also issue such alerts.
“We hope the agreed language will be used. No protester will be left alone. This is a joint effort,” Das added, saying that the CJP would keep up monitoring the implementation of the assurances.
The decision on the late-night meeting came hours after the CJP had threatened to relaunch its sit-in movement nationwide, saying that protesters in several states were still being subjected to police measures despite promises in their talks. According to the organisation, among other states, students and volunteers in Bihar, Assam and the national capital Delhi were being arrested, positioned under scrutiny and harassed.
Former Union minister of education Dharmendra Pradhan’s decision to quit his post followed a 37-day protest of the CJP at India’s Jantar Mantar, which was one of the key demands of the movement. Party leaders stated they would continue their negotiation with the government to ensure fulfilment of all of the pledges the government made in the negotiations, and that protesters would not be held to a legal standard for being a part of the protests.