BJP threats forced 7 Kolkata halls to shut doors to Cockroaches, alleges CJP

Kolkata, a city that prides itself on being liberal and inclusive, and which had hosted exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen with the BJP’s blessings, was not so warm and welcoming to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka told reporters on the driveway of the Calcutta Press Club, which too cancelled a scheduled press conference citing a ‘power failure’, that hall owners had privately confided that they were under pressure to deny the CJP use of their venues.

While the BJP denied the charge, the state government has made it clear that it would not allow student protests in the state. Dilip Ghosh, the RSS’s face in the Cabinet, has been quoted as saying that the state government knows how to deal with the protesters. Ghosh accused the Left of creating and encouraging “cockroaches” and “bedbugs”. He alleged that such groups were using student movements to “foment unrest”, adding that the West Bengal government was vigilant and would not allow disturbances in the state.

Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari too dismissed the CJP’s charge that a volunteer’s father was beaten to death in Bankura district after the volunteer visited a government school for an audit under the CJP’s ‘School Theek Karo’ campaign. The chief minister said Abdul Hafeez’s father had sustained minor injuries and died of high blood pressure.

“We had a meeting planned at the Bharat Sabha Hall. It was supposed to be an internal meeting. We would discuss the road ahead, how to scale up our presence and campaign in Bengal, and how to take the school reform campaign to villages. We had a detailed discussion last (Monday) night. They told us our booking was confirmed. They asked us to come on Tuesday morning, make the payment and take a receipt. This (Tuesday) morning, when our team reached the venue, they were told the hall could not be booked because they had received threat calls from local BJP leaders,” Ranka said.

“This is clearly the BJP’s modus operandi. In Delhi, we were supposed to conduct an internal meeting of volunteers. We had shown receipts for the booking. That permission was also cancelled.... You can intimidate people only for a while. If you want to do something for Gen-Z, come forward and propose five reform agendas to improve the education system. If your only response is confined to brawls, hooliganism and intimidating event organisers into cancelling bookings, this will not continue,” Ranka said.

At the Press Club Kolkata, Ranka was allegedly told that there was no power supply inside. Power was restored around 5 pm, by which time Ranka had left. A club spokesman maintained that the premises had been flooded by overnight rain and that the power supply had been disrupted. Even at the Bharat Sabha Hall in Bowbazar, central Kolkata, the meeting in progress ended by 5 pm, denying the CJP a chance to meet its volunteers.

Ranka expressed his frustration on X, saying, “This only reinforces the fact that the BJP is scared of the cockroaches.” He added, “While we will indeed miss out on interacting with the lovely Cockroaches of Bengal, we promise to make up for it with a much bigger event very soon.” He pointed out that in Delhi too, a hall booked in advance had backed out at the last minute, despite the CJP having a confirmation and a receipt. If this was going to be the BJP’s response, Ranka, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and the London School of Economics, said, it would not work for long.

An employee at Bharat Sabha Hall claimed that the CJP had not booked the venue in advance, but that its organisers arrived only on the morning of the event to confirm an oral booking. The hall could not be provided because another programme continued longer than scheduled. The employee also denied that the BJP had threatened the hall. Rajeeb Sarkar, the officer in charge of Bowbazar police station, said the police had “no information of such threats”.

A defiant Ranka left the city on Wednesday morning for Jaipur after giving the state government a 10-day ultimatum. The CJP demanded that all those responsible for the death of Abdul Hafeez’s father be arrested, that action be taken against police officers who allegedly failed to act despite being alerted to the threats, and that the government announce plans to build a school in memory of the volunteer’s father. CJP members said the party had also announced a crowdfunding campaign to support Hafeez’s family, after he travelled to Jantar Mantar to join the protest.

“Cockroaches of Bengal will continue to visit government schools and push the Bengal government to get them fixed.” He added, “The more you try to stop us, the bigger we become.”