India wakes up to a new generation of anti-government protesters: The Cockroach Janta Party and the Gen Z change the rules of the game
Written by SP Editor
ACORN India
Public space for dissent has been shrinking steadily in India over the last 12 years. Students, workers, farmers, tribals, and journalists have increasingly faced repression for any action questioning the government of the right-wing nationalist Bharati Janata Party (BJP). Demonstrators have faced batons, water cannons and even pellet guns that have resulted in serious injuries. They have been charged under draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, and held without bail for years on end, as the judicial system is sympathetic to the party in power. “Unfortunately, even normal activities are being criminalized,” declared a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan was delivering the fourth Justice G P Singh Memorial Lecture at the National Law Institute University, to an audience of budding lawyers and jurists.
In this scenario, none of the political pundits imagined that an online satirical movement would grow into a serious political challenge to the Modi government which has systematically destroyed much of its opposition in Parliament.
The origins of the CJP can be traced to mid-May 2026, provoked by the Chief Justice’s caustic reference to unemployed youth as "cockroaches." While the Chief Justice later claimed that his comments were taken out of context, the term sparked widespread outrage online. The internet where most young people seem to live was on fire, prompting a young Indian student in a US university to do the Gen Z thing: launch a digital campaign. Abhijeet Dipke set up a satirical account in the name of the Cockroach Janta Party – which got 15 million Instagram followers in one week.
The first campaign cause was corruption in a nation-wide entrance examination for medical school, with exam paper leaks in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), 2026, leading to its cancellation, and extensive evidence of large-scale irregularities in public examinations in general. A number of students died by suicide having borrowed money to pay for coaching classes only to learn that they would have to repeat the exams. CJP demanded a transparent investigation into the paper leak, reforms to India's examination system, accountability for student suicides reportedly linked to exam-related stress, and the resignation of India's Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Jantar Mantar becomes the protest hub: On June 6, on the same day that Dipke flew in from Boston, the CJP organized its first physical protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, the official protest venue at the national capital. The demonstration marked the beginning of a sit-in that gradually attracted students as well as unemployed youth from across the country. They travelled by train and bus to the protest site. The BJP Government in Delhi had no clue as to what was in store for them.
A major turning point to the peaceful protest came on June 28 when environmentalist , educator and social activist from Ladakh Sonam Wangchuk joined the agitation and began an indefinite hunger strike in solidarity with protesting students. His participation elevated the movement's national profile and intensified public attention on the protesters' demands.
Hunger strike and 'Chalo Sansad' march
The protest reached its peak on July 20 when the CJP decided to take the fight directly to the doorsteps of the Indian Government, with the "Chalo Sansad" march to Parliament in Delhi, on the opening day of the Lok Sabha (House of the People)‘s monsoon session. Thousands of young protesters who were now described by the media as GenZ marched from Jantar Mantar toward Parliament before being stopped by heavy police barricades. Clashes followed, in which young students were brutally beaten with batons. A shocked nation watched in horror while burly police persons in uniform as well as in civilian clothes without name badges dragged the students by their hair, teargassed them and arrested them – under orders from the BJP government.
A delegation of CJP leaders also met Union minister JP Nadda, but the talks failed to produce an immediate breakthrough.
The Opposition Parties, which until then seemed to have no direction or vision, were galvanized into action. This signaled a fiery start to the second week of the Monsoon session of the Indian Parliament. The government tried to fend off the growing opposition from angry students as well as political parties, and in a knee jerk response introduced a bill increasing punishment for paper leaks – a feeble response to a problem stemming from major structural flaws in a highly commercialized educational system, with negligible employment opportunities.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in the Indian Parliament, has been demanding accountability for police high-handedness against the peaceful protesters. Gandhi demanded to know that, as Home Minister of the BJP Govt, did Amit Shah approve the use of lethal force, including pellet guns, against students? If not, who did? Were the people in plain clothes who were seen beating the students with canes police personnel or volunteers?
On July 24, Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike after receiving written assurances that examination accountability would be discussed in Parliament and that no legal action would be initiated against protesters involved in the July 20 demonstration. Despite the assurances, CJP maintained that its agitation would continue until broader education reforms were implemented.
The BJP Government despite their stubborn act of bravado finally bowed to the nationwide solidarity protests condemning the brutal beating and arrests of the young protesters. In what was seen as a huge victory for the CJP, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan handed his resignation to the Prime Minister. This has triggered demands for the resignation of other education ministers in different states by the opposition parties, and a complete overhaul of the education system.
On July 26, on a call by various groups, a sea of citizens along with civil society, opposition party volunteers descended upon Mumbai's iconic Shivaji Park named after the Maratha warrior, and the site from where many national movements have been launched. The protest turned into a celebration of Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation from the Modi cabinet. There were an estimated 10,000 participants in the victory celebrations.
The most striking quality of GenZ has been its absolute lack of fear of authority. At the same time, the movement has remained peaceful and respectful to women. Activists from the student movement and opposition political parties worked on a common platform without their sectarian flags or demands. People from all walks of life and across the country organized food and water for the thousands of protesters 24x7, even ordering food from restaurants through food delivery platforms. The protesting students have promised to take this struggle forward and build an alliance of student organizations all over the country to continue demanding reforms in the education sector.
The Gen Z–led movement has developed a new vocabulary of protest, transforming satire, hyper-referential internet humor, and meme culture into an effective form of political dissent. Instead of traditional sloganeering or standard political rallies, the movement relied on viral subversion. Slogans mocked bureaucratic inertia and systemic corruption through dark, generational humor, parodying joblessness, broken promises, endless paper leaks -- low battery notifications. [1, 2]
The CJP have already set their sights on the next stage of the movement, addressing rampant privatization of the education sector, bringing reforms to NEET, the largest public exam, and scrapping the National Testing Policy (NTP) 2020.
Of course, the movement seeks to broaden its concerns. It has started to go beyond the systemic stagnation in the education sector to issues like the financial strain imposed by the government's mandatory ethanol-blended petrol policy. Unemployment, homelessness, skyrocketing prices, poor infrastructure, should be addressed on priority. Protesters have also demanded referendums before major government decisions. Students have called for accountability from politicians; our elected representatives must be knowledgeable about the sectors they handle. Our lawmakers must be qualified to make laws.
The Gen Z movement is possibly today’s freedom struggle, reminiscent of the Quit India movement that led to India’s formation. Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, suggested this at the July 22 meeting in Shivaji Park, Mumbai. The annual August 9 rally to honor the Martyrs who had sacrificed their lives for the freedom struggle would include the demands of students, he said. The rally would highlight the issues of young people.
The Cockroach Janata Party’s youth-led civic and satirical pressure movement seeks systemic political, judicial and educational reforms has revolutionized the practice of social activism.
https://www.thecockroachjantaparty.org.in/#manifesto
Vinod Shetty, an advocate by profession, is actively involved with Acorn Foundation (India). Mr. Shetty narrates some of the heart-rending realities of life in Dharavi.