Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday blamed the government, not protesters, for business losses in Delhi's Connaught Place.
His remarks came hours after the Supreme Court said it could order compensation if the area's shutdown is found to have caused unlawful losses to traders.
Dipke spoke ahead of the CJP's "Lehra Do Tiranga" march at Central Park at 5 p.m..
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"Businesses do not suffer because of peaceful protests," he wrote on X, saying they suffer when the government shuts down a city, suspends internet services and restricts citizens' movement.
He said the CJP has held protests in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Nagpur, all of them peaceful.
Businesses do not suffer because of peaceful protests. They suffer when the govt decides to shut down an entire city, suspend internet services and restrict the movement of its own citizens and turn the city into a war-zone. Since its inception, the Cockroach Janta Party has maintained that we will always follow Gandhi's path of peace and non-violence, and we have stood by that commitment. We have organised protests in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Nagpur, and every single one of them has been peaceful. I was personally assaulted in Jaipur, but even then, I chose not to retaliate because responding to violence with violence goes against everything we believe in. We would rather exercise the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution, drafted under the leadership of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, than resort to physical force. Our strength comes from our commitment to constitutional values, and no amount of provocation will make us abandon them. Despite this, there are constant attempts to portray us as anarchists simply because we refuse to remain silent. But demanding answers from the govt is not anarchy, protesting against injustice on the streets is not anarchy, and questioning those who hold public office is certainly not anarchy. These are the most fundamental expressions of democracy. The very party that is in power today spent decades organising protests, taking to the streets and questioning the governments of the day when it was in opposition. Had the same restrictions, intimidation and police crackdowns been used against them, many of those who occupy positions of power today might never have reached where they are. It is deeply hypocritical to celebrate protests as a democratic right when you are in opposition and treat the same act as a threat to public order when you come to power. We are not asking for privileges or special treatment. We are simply asking to exercise the rights that belong to every citizen of this Republic, irrespective of which party is in power. So let us fulfil our duty as citizens of this country by questioning those we elect, demanding accountability and speaking up whenever we witness injustice. A govt that has been elected by the people is bound to listen to the people, not silence them. Democracy does not end once the votes have been counted.
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) October 16, 2026
He said he was assaulted in Jaipur but chose not to retaliate. "Demanding answers from the govt is not anarchy," Dipke said, accusing the ruling party of hypocrisy for treating protests as a threat after spending decades organising them in opposition.
An elected government, he added, is "bound to listen to the people, not silence them".
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A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made oral observations while hearing a request to list a petition by the Delhi Kirana Committee and the Delhi Iron and Hardware Merchant Association.
The court said it would examine whether restrictions imposed by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) were disproportionate.
Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai told the court the protest could disrupt trade worth Rs 200 crore a day, adding that the NDMC had issued a notice the previous night shutting down the area.
Justice Bagchi said the court had ample jurisdiction under public law to award compensation. "We will act," he said, if the restrictions were found disproportionate.
The CJI said he hoped "better sense will prevail", citing the livelihoods of small shopkeepers. The matter will be heard on October 26, after the Dussehra break.
The New Delhi Traders Association has said protests over the past three weeks hit sales and disrupted livelihoods, and has urged groups to demonstrate elsewhere.
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Heavy security has been deployed across central Delhi, with over 6,000 police personnel and 220 companies of central forces, according to PTI.
The NDMC has closed Central Park on October 16 and 17, citing "administrative reasons". Police say Connaught Place is not a designated protest site and have imposed prohibitory orders, though a small group may wave the national flag.
The CJP is campaigning for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.
Its agitation intensified after leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to judicial custody following their detention at Jantar Mantar on October 13.
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