The Rise of the Cockroach Janta Party: From Instagram Page to Youth Movement

A viral Instagram page. Millions of followers within days.

When the page - Cockroach Janta Party (Cockroach People's Party) or CJP - first appeared many dismissed it as another fleeting social media phenomenon. An internet joke destined to burn brightly and disappear as quickly as it arrived. Instead, it spilled onto the streets.

On Saturday, it stepped off social media and onto the streets of New Delhi, where supporters gathered from several states for a peaceful protest led by Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, an Indian-origin entrepreneur and content creator, who launched the satirical Instagram page that would become the face of the movement. Among those present were Sonam Wangchuk, an Indian engineer, education reformer and climate activist whose work in alternative education and sustainable development has earned international recognition, and Saurav Das, an independent journalist, activist, and Spokesperson of CJP.

According to organisers, around 7,000 people gathered at Jantar Mantar (Built originally to be an observatory, it is now New Delhi's protest zone near Parliament.) While the movement has largely been framed as a youth phenomenon, those gathered at Jantar Mantar reflected a broader cross-section of society, from students and young professionals to parents and older supporters. Protesters carried books in one hand, flowers in the other, and smartphones held high. Not merely to communicate, but to record and bear witness. For a movement born online, it marked an important shift. From digital expression to physical presence.

Screenshot of CJP's social media platform. Image supplied/AMC

Youth Movement in South Asia

Writing about CJP reminded me how there are clear echoes of the youth-led protests that have emerged across South Asia in recent years, from the student-led movements in Bangladesh to demonstrations in Nepal driven by frustration with governance, opportunity and institutional accountability. Like those movements, the Cockroach Janta Party appears to draw its energy from a generation grappling with uncertainty about education, employment and the future. Social media has also played a central role, allowing young people to share experiences, build solidarity and transform individual frustrations into a collective conversation.

Yet the movement differs in an important respect. Unlike the protests in Bangladesh and Nepal, which emerged through sustained street mobilisation and direct political confrontation, the Cockroach Janta Party began as an act of online satire. Its language was memes rather than manifestos, and its initial arena was Instagram rather than the public square. The movement's eventual transition from screens to streets suggests that digital spaces can still serve as a gateway to collective action rather than merely an outlet for discontent. In doing so, it offers a distinctly contemporary example of how political expression, particularly among younger generations, is increasingly being shaped at the intersection of humour, technology and activism.

Reforming Education System in India

The protest centred on concerns over alleged irregularities in public examinations and recruitment processes, including NEET-UG, CUET, CBSE and SSC examinations. One of the most prominent is the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), a nationwide examination taken annually by more than two million students seeking admission to medical colleges. In recent years, allegations of paper leaks, irregularities and administrative failures across various examinations have fuelled anxiety among students and job seekers already navigating intense competition for educational and employment opportunities.

Addressing the gathering, Abhijeet said the agitation would continue nationwide until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down.

Yet beyond the slogans, speeches and demands lies a more intriguing question. What made millions of young people identify so strongly with a movement that began as a satirical Instagram page?

Founder of CJP, Abhijeet said the agitation would continue nationwide until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down. Image supplied

The account was created after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, during a Supreme Court hearing, compared certain activists and unemployed youth who engage in criticism of public institutions to "cockroaches" and "parasites of the society". The remarks triggered outrage online. Within days, the page had attracted millions of followers and evolved into something larger than the controversy that inspired it.

At first glance, the explanation appears simple: anger.

But anger alone rarely sustains a movement. Social movements rarely begin with certainty. More often, they begin with recognition. The moment people realise that a frustration they believed they carried alone is, in fact, widely shared.

Three months ago, when 29-year-old Namit S.N. resigned from his job, he believed another opportunity would come along soon. Armed with qualifications, experience and optimism, he expected the transition to be temporary. Instead, the weeks stretched into months, and confidence gradually gave way to uncertainty.

"I didn't think the job hunt would be this difficult despite having prior experience," he said. "If this is how challenging it is for someone with work experience, I can only empathise with Gen Z freshers trying to enter the job market."

Namit's experience is personal. Yet the emotions behind it are familiar to many young Indians. Across social media, thousands have shared stories of cancelled examinations, delayed recruitment processes, stalled careers and a future that feels increasingly uncertain despite years of education and hard work.

What the movement appeared to offer was the reassurance that these frustrations were not being experienced alone.

As a mental health counsellor, I am often reminded that one of the most powerful moments in therapy is not necessarily finding an answer. Sometimes it is simply discovering that an experience has a name, a pattern, or a context that extends beyond oneself. Perhaps social movements perform a similar function.

They do not immediately solve unemployment, educational uncertainty or institutional distrust. What they can do is transform private frustrations into a shared reality. They can take experiences that people believe are individual failures and reveal them as part of a broader social story.

This may help explain why the movement spread so rapidly. The controversial remarks that triggered it were important, but they were likely not the whole story. The response suggests that millions of people were already carrying frustrations that had been accumulating over time. The page merely gave those frustrations a language, a symbol, and a community.

What Do CJP's Critics say

Not everyone is convinced by the movement. Some critics have dismissed it as a gathering point for disaffected voices, going so far as to label its supporters anarchists, opportunists or individuals resentful of existing institutions. Others have questioned its effectiveness rather than its intentions. While acknowledging the scale of public participation, they argue that protests which begin in the morning and conclude by evening rarely produce resignations or systemic change. Meaningful protest, they contend, often requires a level of sustained pressure and disruption that those in power cannot easily ignore.

Whether those criticisms are fair is a matter of debate. What is harder to dismiss, however, is the sheer scale of the response. Movements do not attract millions of followers in a matter of days without tapping into sentiments that already exist beneath the surface.

Way Forward

M.N. Sriram, convener of the Centre for Protection of Democratic Rights and Secularism (CPDRS), Karnataka, viewed its rapid growth as a reflection of deeper frustrations. "The millions of followers are the latest manifestation of a deep-seated resentment arising from several problems over the years," he said. He added that it was encouraging to see young people no longer willing to remain "passive mute spectators."

Yet he cautioned against viewing the movement solely through the lens of its online popularity. "This phenomenon reflects only one side of the resentment," he said, adding that many people experiencing similar concerns may never participate in campaigns or public conversations.

He also warned against assuming that every surge of public sentiment automatically translates into lasting change. "Movements come in waves. They rise, they recede, and they rise again," he said. "If the next steps do not develop, this resentment ultimately fades away."

Sriram believes the transition from social media to the streets is a positive development, but argues that visibility alone will not determine the movement's future. In his view, its success will depend on two factors: organisational preparedness and a clear sense of direction. While the movement has succeeded in bringing together people who share similar frustrations, he says it remains unclear what shape it will ultimately take beyond its immediate demands. He also argues that lasting change requires attention to the conditions that gave rise to the frustrations in the first place, including concerns around employment and opportunities for young people. "It is good that it is growing and moving forward," he said. "But it needs organisation, leadership and clarity about where it wants to go."

Whether the CJP becomes a lasting movement or remains a moment in time is impossible to predict. What is already clear, however, is that it has done something many social movements struggle to achieve. It convinced millions of people that a frustration they believed was personal was, in fact, shared.

And once a generation discovers that it is not alone, returning to silence becomes much harder.

 -Asia Media Centre