The Cockroach Protests Are Reviving India’s Ailing Democracy
India’s “Cockroach” youth movement has now forced the resignation of the country’s education minister. What began as a single-issue protest mobilization has broadened into one of the biggest challenges Narendra Modi has faced in power.
The student protests in India trace their origins to a satirical social media page created in response to a disparaging remark from the chief justice of India, who likened youth activists to “cockroaches.” (Arun Sankar / AFP via Getty Images)
The student protests in India trace their origins to a satirical social media page called the “Cockroach Janta Party” (CJP). Activist Abhijeet Dipke created the page in response to a disparaging remark from the chief justice of India, who likened youth activists to “cockroaches” for questioning the government.
What began as an online campaign soon evolved into a nationwide protest movement against the irregularities in examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), especially the leakage of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) question papers that triggered many aspiring students to commit suicide across the country.
The agitation gained significant momentum when Sonam Wangchuk, veteran educationist and social activist from Ladakh, joined the campaign and launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. On Saturday, July 25, the campaign could claim the credit for forcing Pradhan to step down.
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