India's Cockroach Revolution: How a Supreme Court Insult Sparked a Youth-Led Political Movement

Twenty-year-old Saloni Taneja had barely slept. For days, she and hundreds of other students had been eating, sleeping and protesting under the open sky at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi's designated protest site, as June temperatures hovered near 40°C. Around her, demonstrators clutched roses and books and sang about revolution, equality and justice — non-violent gestures of dissent requested by organisers should police attempt to disperse the gathering. On Sunday, that threat became real: police moved in and detained climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on hunger strike at the site for 20 days in solidarity with the students, and took him to an undisclosed location. The protesters did not move. In response, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced he would begin an indefinite hunger strike. The protesters did not move.

Would you like us to summarize articles for you?

Saloni and others have been sleeping under open sky since 20th June and refusing to move until India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan handed in his resignation over a series of national examination scandals.

The stakes of this movement became violently clear just days ago in Jaipur. As Abhijeet Dipke—the 20-something Boston University graduate who founded the digital movement—stepped up to address a crowd, a man lunged forward, slapping Dipke multiple times across the face and screaming accusations of "misleading people" and harboring a "Jihadi mindset." The physical assault, caught on tape and broadcasted to millions, highlighted the dangerous friction between a desperate youth and the state trying to control the narrative.

Instead of scattering, the crowd swelled. "These are tactics to scare us," Dipke announced shortly after the assault, refusing to back down. "Cockroaches don't even fear. We will meet their violence with peace and love, but we will not move."

The demonstrations first began on 6 June after a satirical social media account, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), had called for a protest, seeking accountability from the government and asking the Education Minister to step down from his post. 

What began almost a month earlier as a social media parody page has since crossed into physical space, transforming into one of the most significant youth movements India has seen in years.

The insult that launched a movement

The CJP started as a direct satirical swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was founded on May 16, 2026, by Abhijeet Dipke, a political communications graduate in his twenties, who was then studying at Boston University.

It all began with an incendiary remark made just a day prior by Surya Kant, the Chief Justice of India. During a Supreme Court hearing on May 15, the Chief Justice dismissed frustrated, unemployed young activists by comparing them to ‘parasites’ and ‘cockroaches’ who ‘don’t have any place in a profession’. 

The comment evoked outrage on social media among the young people - partly because of its contempt, but especially because it came from the corridors of the Supreme Court, the custodian of the nation's laws. An incensed Dipke launched an online parody platform, jokingly inviting India's ‘cockroaches’ to unite. The response was unprecedented. 

Within 78 hours, the CJP’s Instagram page crossed 3 million followers. Within five days, it surged past 10 million, which is more than the official social media handles of the ruling BJP. Today, its follower count sits at 22.5 million.

From Instagram to the Streets

More than a month later now,  and after a series of demonstrations in different Indian cities, including Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, and Lucknow, the CJP is no longer just an internet meme or a parody account. Political analysts describe it as a ‘political phenomenon’  fuelled by irregularities in national entrance examinations, most notably the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medicine. It has since evolved into a campaign for state accountability, exposing a deep-seated economic and existential crisis gripping India's under-30 demographic.

At the first Jantar Mantar protest, 19-year-old Shashank Bhavan told FairPlanet that he felt the government was ‘playing with our lives in the name of education.’

‘They don't know how many crores (tens of millions) of lives they are playing with,’ he said ‘NEET papers were leaked. So many other papers were leaked. They didn't realise how many lives were lost.’

An examination system under fire

At the centre of these nationwide protests is a testing system that holds the keys to social mobility in India. This year, more than two million aspirants competed for 130,000 medical seats through the NEET examination. But after the test was administered, reports emerged of paper leaks. Under public pressure, the government scrapped the exam, meaning exhausted students had to start all over again. Many aspirants have died by suicide because of the pressure and disappointment over the cancellation. 

But this exam scandal is not the only force keeping the momentum going for the CJP. The movement has broadened. At the core of CJP’s agenda now is rising youth unemployment, soaring inflation, and demands for state accountability. According to recent economic indicators, nearly 40 per cent of Indian graduates under the age of 25 are currently unemployed.

Speaking to FairPlanet, Vijeta Dahiya, the official spokesperson for the CJP, outlined  what lies at the core of their campaign, which is not just about students. ‘There is so much fear in this country. We need to reclaim this country,’ he said. ‘There is a crackdown by the government. But if we keep normalising this, it won't work. Self-censorship is increasing because of this kind of pessimism and that is why the problems are multiplying. When everyone speaks, things will become simpler. It is not as if the government can put the entire country in jail.’

At the Delhi rally, CJP founder Dipke told the protesters, who sat under a scorching sun, that the youth of the country ‘will no longer fear, they will fight. Cockroaches don't even fear.’

Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, described the CJP as a new digital phenomenon that is aimed at demanding accountability in the education system.

‘It is not an alternate political force, but part of the universe of protests and growing discontent against the government. It is too early to say that CJP will develop into a sustained political movement, let alone a party,’ Hasan told FairPlanet.

Government Crackdown

The speed and scale of the mobilisation have posed a new challenge for the government led by PM Modi. The group’s official account on X was blocked within India on national security grounds, and senior ministers have taken to public platforms to dismiss CJP as an ‘anti-national,’ ‘funded,’ or ‘fake’ conspiracy orchestrated by opposition forces.

Dipke has challenged the government’s efforts to control the narrative. During a protest rally in Jaipur, a man slapped Dipke multiple times, accusing him of ‘misleading people’ and being of ‘Jihadi mindset’.

In response, the CJP issued a social media statement, ‘These are all tactics and methods to scare us, threaten us, and divert us from the issue. We should not get distracted from the issue at all. Our only demand is that Dharmendra Pradhan must resign. For the injustice done to students and the suicides of students, he must resign…No matter how many times they raise their hands, we will not respond with violence. Our movement is peaceful and we will continue it with peace and love.’

As July progresses, Jantar Mantar has evolved from a student rally into a broader convergence of civil dissent. The CJP's camp drew renewed momentum when acclaimed climate activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk joined the site, launching a hunger strike demanding institutional accountability — a fast that lasted 20 days before police detained him on Sunday and removed him to an undisclosed location. Whether the CJP fizzles out as an internet phenomenon or hardens into a permanent political force remains to be seen. What is already clear is that many among India’s under-30 generation, which accounts for more than half of the nation's population, have found in it an avenue to express their resentment against the government.

Hasan said such an intervention is important at this juncture, as it reflects the ‘legitimate anger of young people over the chaos in Indian education.’ 

‘Its emphasis on accountability is particularly significant, given the absence of accountability for recurring examination paper leaks and the many other problems affecting both school and higher education,’ she said.

She added, however, that CJP would need to broaden its critique to encompass education policy as a whole, including issues such as centralisation, curriculum reforms, privatisation, and the entrance examination system, among the many challenges currently plaguing Indian education.

Whether the CJP moves in that direction, only time will tell.

Disclaimer: This is a developing story. FairPlanet will update this article as events unfold.