The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is holding a march to Parliament Street Police Station in Delhi on Friday, demanding action against Swatantra Bhardwaj. The self-proclaimed Hindutva ‘influencer’ publicly boasted he assaulted Sanjay, father of student protester Nishu Azad, during a protest at Jantar Mantar in June.
CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka urged people to join them in the march to seek justice for Sanjay. “Every true patriot should join Saurav.. It’s us vs communal, bigoted hate-mongers.” Nishu said she, too, would accompany her father to the police station.
Bhardwaj is a right-wing activist and a social media influencer, and describes himself as a "Swatantra Sanatani Yodha". Originally said to be from Bihar's Darbhanga, he has gained quite a following on Instagram.
Sanjay was involved in a scuffle during a protest. CJP has alleged that he was attacked by Swatantra Bhardwaj and others. A recent viral podcast featuring Bhardwaj sparked outrage over his brazen admission of brutal assault on Sanjay. Speaking about the incident, Bhardwaj boasted how he almost killed Nishu's father but wasn't even jailed, crediting Delhi minister Kapil Mishra for having his back.
"Nishu ke baap ko hum sar faade…. Aapko pata hai, isko kaun sa dhaara lagta hai? Half murder. Section 307. Sar pe saath taka laga hua tha. Banda marne ke sthiti pe ambulance mein ja raha tha. Uski beti thana ke baahar khade hoke keh rahi thi ki agar mere baap ko insaaf nahi mila to hum zehar khaake mar jaayenge?" he said in the podcast. [I cracked the skull of Nishu's father. Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches. The man was being taken away in an ambulance in a serious condition. His daughter was standing outside the police station and saying that she would die by suicide if her father didn't get justice]
"Hum to jail bhi nahi gaye. Poore duniya ko ye baat pata honi chahiye, hum jail bhi nahi gaye… Ek to hamare Balaji ka kripa hai, doosra thoda-bahut hai, Kapil Mishra apne bade bhai hain. Ye log kehta hai Kapil Mishra ke call aa gaya, chhod diya gaya… [But I was not even jailed. The world should know this. I was out and about through the night… First, it is because of the blessings of our Balaji. Secondly, to some extent, Kapil Mishra is like my elder brother. These people say that a call came from Kapil Mishra and I was released]," he said in the podcast.
Interestingly, Delhi Police had claimed that Sanjay sustained a head injury from a kada (bangle) during a scuffle, and denied “crack in skull” as “misinformation”.
Bhardwaj's remarks have kicked off a political storm, with the Congress, AAP and the CJP targeting the BJP after the video went viral on social media. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused Home Minister Amit Shah of protecting a man alleged to have attacked the father of a Dalit student protester. Gandhi questioned whether any action would be taken against Bhardwaj and pledged his full support to the family in their fight for justice.
"Nishu, there's no need to panic. I'm with you. It's clear that you're being targeted because you raise your voice for the rights of your community and students," Gandhi said in a post on X, written in Hindi.
"Amit Shah's Delhi Police, on one hand, commits inhuman brutality against students. On the other hand, the criminal who smashed the head of a Dalit girl's father is roaming freely in the open," he said.
