Why are thousands of people protesting in Delhi?

India’s ‘Cockroach’ Movement: A Youth Uprising Over Jobs and Exams

Tens of thousands of young Indians have taken to the streets of New Delhi, part of a widening protest movement that began as an online joke but has evolved into one of the country’s most visible youth campaigns. The movement, calling itself the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), is demanding accountability over exam paper leaks and broader failures in India’s education and employment systems.

The protests peaked this week when demonstrators attempted to march on Parliament, only to be met by police firing tear gas and sound cannons and using batons to disperse crowds, as reported by ABC Australia and Al Jazeera. Instead of quelling dissent, the crackdown appears to have galvanized supporters, with solidarity rallies reported in cities across India and abroad, including London and New York, according to the same sources.

Origins: A Judge’s Remark and a Social Media Post

The CJP traces its roots to May 2026, when India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly referred to unemployed young people as “cockroaches” during a court hearing. As reported by ABC Australia, Justice Kant said, “There are youngsters, like cockroaches; they don’t get any employment. They don’t have any place in a profession.” He later clarified that he was referring specifically to people with “fake and bogus degrees,” not all youth, according to the BBC.

The comment struck a chord with Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old student then studying in Boston. Dipke posted on X, “What if all cockroaches come together?” and the post received millions of engagements, according to ABC Australia. He then launched a CJP Instagram page, which gained over 1 million followers within a day and 10 million within four days. Today, the account has almost 25 million followers, ABC reported.

Dipke, who later returned to India, has emerged as the reluctant leader of the movement. He told ABC’s 7.30 program that he realized there was “genuine frustration among the youth regarding unemployment and regarding the irregularities in the examination system of India.”

From Joke to Movement

The CJP began as a satirical movement, as noted by both the BBC and Al Jazeera. Dipke, described by the BBC as a political communications strategist and former Boston University student, has said the movement started as a joke. But after he offered people the chance to sign up via a Google form, tens of thousands responded, pushing it into a serious protest group.

The movement quickly tapped into widespread anger over a scandal involving a highly competitive university entrance exam, the question paper for which was leaked ahead of the exam date in early May, as reported by Al Jazeera. This exposed long-running grievances over privileged access for some students and fueled broader frustrations over unemployment and a shrinking job market.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) initially dismissed the movement as a social media phenomenon, according to Al Jazeera. That changed when activist Sonam Wangchuk, a well-known engineer and advocate for the CJP, began a three-week hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar observatory. On Saturday, police forcibly took the 59-year-old to a hospital, an act that prompted CJP leaders to call for a march on Parliament, as reported by Al Jazeera and the BBC.

The Protests and Demands

The CJP is calling for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the exam leaks, according to multiple outlets. Some protesters have also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Al Jazeera and ABC Australia. The movement has gained support from sections of India’s farmers’ organizations, as reported by Deutsche Welle.

The protests have spread beyond New Delhi, with solidarity demonstrations in cities across India, according to ABC Australia and Al Jazeera. The CJP’s social media following remains immense, with millions of young Indians engaging with the movement online.

A Deeper Discontent

The name “Cockroach” has become a symbol of defiance. As Al Jazeera’s analysis notes, “To be called a cockroach is to be told that one is dirty, dispensable and best kept out of sight. The cockroach is an ugly, comic, subaltern creature. It is despised, hard to kill and lives in the cracks of polite society. It survives poison, darkness and disgust. It appears when a house is not as clean as its owners claim.”

Observers quoted in multiple reports suggest the movement has resonated because it names a widespread sentiment among India’s youth, who feel let down by the education system and the job market. Whether the CJP can sustain its momentum and translate online anger into political change remains to be seen, but for now, the cockroaches have made themselves impossible to ignore.