Commentary: India’s ‘cockroach’ youth are proving hard to crush

The Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, is a youth movement that began after India’s Chief Justice compared unemployed young activists to “cockroaches.” Protesters adopted the label and used it to organise online and in the streets. The movement first focused on examination scandals, then widened into a challenge to political and electoral institutions.

Its current demands target elections. Demonstrators want Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar removed and the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls stopped. They allege that the exercise wrongly deleted eligible voters. More than 130 million names were struck from the rolls, according to the article.

The protests have become a direct test of the government’s response to youth anger. Police detained CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and other protesters, closed Jantar Mantar, and jailed two CJP leaders for five days. Yet protesters returned after release, showing the movement has not been easily suppressed.

India’s government sees the protests as serious because they challenge both its political authority and the institutions that shape elections. The movement mocks Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP, and mainstream media, which protesters view as supportive of the government. It also targets the election chief and electoral-roll revisions.

The protests have shown unusual reach. The CJP gained millions of Instagram followers within weeks, while its supporters crossed gender, caste, religion, and class barriers. Police and paramilitary forces were mobilised in the capital. Authorities detained leaders, removed protesters, closed Jantar Mantar, and jailed two CJP leaders.

These measures have not ended the movement. Protesters returned to the streets after being released, and Neha Bora appeared with Rahul Gandhi after repeated detentions. The article says the protests have punctured Modi’s cultivated authority and exposed a government struggling to handle irreverent young people.

India has the world’s largest youth population, with 371 million young people. Nearly 65 per cent of the country’s population is of working age. This gives India a potentially powerful economic advantage because many people could contribute to production, earnings, and growth.

That advantage depends on jobs. The article reports that 7 to 8 million young people will be added to India’s labour force annually during the next decade. Yet the unemployment rate for college graduates aged 15 to 29 was 28.4 per cent in 2023, according to the International Labour Organization.

The gap between population and employment is central to the protests. India is growing at more than 7 per cent, but analysts warn of “jobless growth.” Without enough work, the country risks wasting its demographic dividend and increasing frustration among educated young people seeking an Indian dream that remains elusive for many.

The movement began with anger over examination scandals, which helped trigger protests in June and July and the education minister’s resignation. But young people also face a difficult labour market. College graduates aged 15 to 29 had a 28.4 per cent unemployment rate in 2023, while millions more will seek work each year.

The movement grew after the Chief Justice’s “cockroaches” remark. Online activists transformed the insult into the Cockroach Janta Party and gained millions of followers. Their frustration broadened to include the government, mainstream media, and an establishment they see as patriarchal and gerontocratic.

Election concerns pushed the movement further. Protesters oppose the Special Intensive Revision because they allege eligible voters were wrongly removed. They say the process may have affected West Bengal’s election outcome. The result is a movement linking education, employment, political accountability, and the basic right to participate in elections.

The Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, is an exercise undertaken by India’s Election Commission to verify and revise electoral rolls. Electoral rolls are the lists of people entitled to vote. The CJP wants the exercise halted because it says the process threatens participation in a functioning democracy.

The protesters’ central allegation is that many deletions were wrongful. More than 130 million names were struck off the rolls, according to the article. If eligible citizens are included among those deletions, they may be unable to vote unless their names are restored before an election.

The dispute has political weight because the exercise may have affected the outcome of elections in West Bengal, a state the BJP had long sought and finally won in May. Protesters therefore connect SIR to both individual voting rights and the fairness of electoral competition.

If eligible voters are wrongly removed, they may be unable to participate in elections. That would weaken the principle that citizens should choose their representatives. It could also damage public trust, especially when protesters already believe the election process is being administered unfairly.

The article reports that more than 130 million names were removed and that protesters allege many deletions were wrongful. It also says the SIR exercise may have affected the outcome in West Bengal. These claims make voter-roll accuracy a political issue, not merely an administrative one.

The consequences could therefore reach the government. A disputed process may produce more protests, legal challenges, and demands for accountability. It could also make the Modi government appear weaker. The article quotes journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta saying the government is weaker than it has ever been, though it does not predict a specific electoral result.

A demographic dividend is the potential economic gain from a large working-age population compared with dependants. More workers can expand production, household incomes, tax revenues, and consumer demand. But this benefit is not automatic. It depends on education, suitable skills, and enough productive jobs.

India illustrates the danger of an incomplete dividend. Nearly 65 per cent of its population is of working age, and 7 to 8 million young people may enter the labour force each year during the next decade. Yet the unemployment rate for college graduates aged 15 to 29 reached 28.4 per cent in 2023.

When an economy grows without creating sufficient employment, analysts call it “jobless growth.” Young people may remain unemployed or underused despite economic expansion. The article warns that India risks wasting its demographic dividend, while job frustration helps explain why protests have expanded beyond examination scandals.