Shafaqna Pakistan: The founder of an online Indian youth movement that has attracted millions of followers within a matter of days said on Monday that he intends to take the campaign beyond social media by organizing a street protest against the country’s education minister and expressing dissent toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Cockroach Janta Party has gained rapid popularity by tapping into concerns among young Indians—who account for more than half of the country’s 1.42 billion people—regarding politics, unemployment, and rising living costs.
Its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, who is based in the United States, has particularly focused on issues such as examination paper leaks and errors in the grading of final-year school examinations, problems that have affected the academic prospects of millions of students.
In a post on his personal X account, Dipke announced that he would return to India to demand the resignation of the education minister. He also called on young people to join a peaceful protest in Delhi and urged them to exercise their constitutional right to seek accountability from the government.
He said nearly 800,000 students have signed a petition seeking Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. The minister and a government spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The CJP’s rapid rise marks one of the largest online expressions of dissent against Modi’s 12-year rule, and analysts say it could dent his image despite recent state election victories, as frustration grows over rising fuel prices and gas shortages linked to the Iran war.
The party’s name is a reference to comments by India’s top judge, Chief Justice Surya Kant of the Supreme Court, that compared some unemployed youth to cockroaches.
Kant later said he did not mean to criticise young people but was referring to those with “fake and bogus degrees”. The party has more than 22 million followers on Instagram.
DIPKE SAYS HIS FAMILY IS WORRIED HE COULD BE ARRESTED
Dipke, who has lived in the US for the past two years, said his family and friends were worried he could be arrested on his return. “How long can we live in fear?” he said.
The government has blocked the CJP’s X account and Dipke told Reuters he had to regain control of the party’s Instagram page from unknown hackers.
Rattled by anger following the cancellation of an entrance test for undergraduate medical courses last month due to a leak, the government is planning to deploy the Indian Air Force to transport question papers for a retest this month, instead of using the postal department.
CJP has also focused on a youth job crisis. Government data shows that for those aged between 15 and 29, unemployment was 9.9% last year, more than triple the overall rate of 3.1%.
Source: Dunya News
