IYC Launches ‘Indian Youth Cockroaches’ Campaign
New Delhi: Amid the growing popularity of the online satirical outfit, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on Tuesday launched the ‘Indian Young Cockroach’ campaign, describing it as a nationwide youth resistance movement against unemployment, paper leaks and corruption under the BJP-led Centre. The campaign, led by IYC in-charge Manish Sharma and the wing’s president Uday Bhanu Chib, aims to take back the term “cockroach”, which the organization says has been used to make fun of protesting youths.
The term ‘Cockroaches’ began to gain widespread traction in India’s political discourse following the emergence of the digital-only satire campaign, the Cockroach Janta Party.
CJP was founded by 30-year-old Abhijit Dipke after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant compared unemployed youths drawn to activism and journalism to “cockroaches” and “parasites”.
Chib said the movement will continue both online and on the ground through protests and mobilization of Youth Congress workers across the country.
In a statement, the youth wing of the Congress party claimed that young people who voiced concerns about unemployment and alleged institutional failures were ‘labelled as anti-national, jailed, intimidated and silenced’.
“If hard work, justice and accountability are turning India’s youth into cockroaches in the eyes of the government, then yes, we accept it with pride,” said Sharma.
“These Indian Young Cockroaches are young Indians who refuse to remain silent and continue to resist despite FIRs, jails, intimidation and oppression,” he added.
Sharma said the campaign was “not just a campaign” but a “collective resistance of young Indians whose future was being destroyed”.
Referring to the organisation’s recent protests, Chib said the IYC “is not afraid of FIRs, jail, intimidation, account suspension or oppression”.
IYC also launched the ‘Sack of Pradhan’ petition seeking accountability and resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated incidents of paper leaks.
IYC National Secretary and National Head of Social Media Manu Jain said the campaign represents the “anger, frustration and resistance of an entire generation”.
“Through social media, AI-powered campaigns and field mobilization, we are building a national movement demanding jobs, justice and accountability,” he said.
The organization has also launched a dedicated digital platform inviting young people to sign up as part of the campaign.
The IYC said it would continue to raise issues related to unemployment, exam paper leaks and corruption “in every street, every campus and every corner of India”.
