Gen Z protests led by India’s ‘Cockroach party’ are testing Modi’s leadership

Thousands of Gen Z student protesters led by the Cockroach Janta Party (or CJP, a pseudo-political group) continued to gather in New Delhi on Wednesday despite authorities cracking down on the movement.

India has one of these world’s largest youth populationExperts said the protests were the result of Generation Z anger over youth unemployment and lack of economic mobility.

“The ongoing demonstrations may represent the most significant public challenge to the government since the farmers’ mobilization in 2020-2021,” Atman Trivedi, partner at Washington-based DGA Albright Stonebridge Group, told CNBC.

Trivedi added that CJP started as an “online political satire” but has now evolved into a “serious, real-world protest movement.”

The student protest started on June 6. I demand resignation Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan blamed him for the leak of exam papers that occurred in May. He received the support of Sonam Wangchuk, an activist and educator. 25 days hunger strike and receiving medical care.

Demonstrations intensified this week after students broke through security barricades surrounding the protest site as they marched towards parliament on Monday. He was tear gassed and beaten by the Delhi Police. Police said more 100 personnel injured “in violent protests.”

Lavanya Singh, who was present at the protests on July 20, told CNBC that instead of dispersing the crowd, police used violent methods to “inflict maximum damage possible.” The 26-year-old artist returned to the protest on Wednesday and plans to attend “every day.”

” [exam paper] “The leak is an example of how this government has failed us time and time again,” Singh said, adding that the protesters were motivated by a mix of “feeling betrayed, anger and despair.” Singh said the CJP was not “perfect” but was trying to deliver justice and listening to our nation’s youth.

India’s home ministry did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

CJP was launched by political communications strategist and Boston University student Abhijeet Dipke on May 16 after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant spoke about people. He attacks institutions as “parasites” and likens some unemployed youth and activists to “cockroaches” during a courtroom hearing. The CJI later said: verbal observations were “misreported.”

CJP has since gone viral on social media, reaching over 22 million followers, but the account Downloaded on WednesdayIn his post about X, Dipke blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi’s political rivals are also pressuring the government to respond to students’ demands and demanding action be taken against those attacking protesters.

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who was briefly detained on Tuesday for organizing a protest in front of the prime minister’s residence in solidarity with students, claimed that approximately 152 exam papers were leaked in the last 10 years. Affects more than 75 million people students.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government Will investigate Gandhi “The Indian education system has been rigged,” he claimed at a press conference on Wednesday.

In May, the National Eligibility and Entrance Test, a key test for admission to medical schools, was canceled due to allegations of document leaks affecting millions of students. A retest was performed in June.

The country’s education minister said in a post on

Students in India deserve much better than being “treated as props in a political campaign,” and they deserve “certainty over chaos, solutions over slogans, and accountability over turmoil.”

CJP protests spreads to multiple cities In India, he says, “the nation has woken up.”

Angad Chabra, a 17-year-old student preparing to start an engineering degree in India’s tech hub, Bengaluru, said frustration among students was “too high to remain silent any longer” and that CJP provided a platform for young people to come together.

India ranks as the “highest risk country” in the Civil Unrest Index by Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk analysis firm. Reema Bhattacharya, head of Asia research at Verisk Maplecroft, said in a note Wednesday that the size of grievances has increased and average protest attendance has more than doubled in the past year, while the unrest is now geographically dispersed across India.

“After a decade in office, it becomes difficult to attribute poor employment results solely to legacy factors, fueling the strongest anti-incumbency rhetoric seen in his 12 years in power ahead of the 2029 election.”

The CJP protest also garnered support from various regional political parties and even farmer groups. Prominent farmer union leader Rakesh Tikait promised support For students’ protest.

Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, head of Eurasia Group’s South Asia practice, told CNBC that the CJP has served as a lightning rod for almost anyone with a grievance against the government, but warned that it has also made the movement “increasingly chaotic.”