An Indian youth movement led by an organization calling itself ‘the Cockroach Janata Party’ (CJP) has called a halt to weeks of protest in India, after securing a significant victory: India’s government has acceded to its key demands, and the education minister has resigned.
The rise of the CJP has been remarkable. It began as an online satirical platform, responding to a remark by India’s chief justice in which he referred to the country’s unemployed youth as ‘cockroaches’. But since May it has swiftly developed into a real movement for political and social change, tapping into broader dissatisfaction among India’s young people.
The immediate trigger was a leak in the country’s medical examinations, which over 2.2 million students were due to sit in May. There were reports of several suicides associated with the decision to cancel and then reschedule the exams. The CJP began protests at a site in New Delhi near India’s Parliament, calling for the resignation of the education minister and compensation for affected families. Protests also took hold in other parts of the country.
Movement founder, Abhijit Dipke, returned to India in June to lead the demonstrations. The size of crowds grew from hundreds to thousands after a veteran activist, Sonam Wangchuk, who went on a hunger strike in support of the CJP demonstrations, was forcibly removed from a protest – ostensibly on health grounds. Then heavy-handed tactics by the police against the young protestors went viral, fuelling support for the demonstrations among opposition politicians, celebrities and other sections of Indian society.
With the CJP’s key demands met, the demonstrations have now died down. But the grievances that led to its emergence have not disappeared.
Fundamental grievances remain unresolved
Disaffection among Indian youth reflects structural problems in the economy, including wider flaws in the education system and a lack of employment opportunities.
The exam leak was only the latest in a string of scandals facing the country’s national examination system. Another major leak occurred in 2024. And there have also been leaks of tests for other public service officials, including the police, teachers and engineers.
This points to the need to reform India’s over-centralized examination system, which is overseen by the National Testing Agency, an autonomous body within the Ministry of Education. Education is an emotive issue in India. The country’s middle class spends large proportions of their disposable income on navigating the highly competitive examination system – often through coaching, which is big business in India.
The broader structural problem is the lack of economic opportunity for young people. A third of India’s working age population are aged between 15-29 years. And nearly 40 per cent of school graduates aged between 15-25 years are unemployed.
Even before the latest demonstrations, there were signs of frustration with the government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) performed more poorly than expected in the 2024 general election.
This was attributed in part to concerns about rising youth unemployment and inequality. The party secured a third consecutive term but on a weaker mandate that made it more beholden to its coalition partners.
These concerns have been exacerbated by the Iran conflict, which is pressuring India’s economy and weakening the Indian Rupee, which is the among the world’s poorest performing currencies.
These economic stresses, combined with flaws in the country’s education system, lie at the heart of India’s youth movement. But this does not mean that India will follow in the footsteps of other countries that have experienced so-called Gen Z revolutions.
Similarities and differences
South Asia has experienced a string of recent ‘people power’ movements. In Sri Lanka in 2022, Bangladesh in 2024 and Nepal in 2025, governments were ousted by largescale social unrest fuelled by growing economic distress, political dysfunction, demographic pressures and the role of social media.
There are clear parallels between these movements and the CJP. India also has a young, aspirational population with grievances over the lack of opportunities. Many feel that the system is inherently unfair, dogged by administrative failures, and unresponsive to their needs. Social media has fuelled their grievances, mobilizing populations and presenting an alternative narrative to the state’s.
However, these comparisons have limitations. India’s youth movement will not unseat the government in the way that it has in neighbouring countries. Despite its name, the CJP is not (yet) a political party, although several opposition politicians are supporting its cause with moral and material support. The group’s objective during the recent demonstrations was quite narrowly defined to reforming the country’s education system.
And the Modi government is on much stronger footing than its peers in neighbouring countries. The BJP has been in power at the national level since 2014. The party and its allies control governments in 22 of India’s 36 states and union territories. There is no strong and unified political opposition.
That increasingly leaves street movements as the means by which the population voices its opposition to the government – from the farmers’ protests in 2020-21 opposing agricultural law reform, to earlier protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which offers fast-track citizenship to minorities from neighbouring countries (but notably not Muslims). Within a day of the CJP calling a halt to its demonstrations, another group – calling itself the E20 Janta Party – was established to oppose the government’s ethanol-blended fuel requirements.
Most of all, grassroots movements face a high barrier to translate their protest support into political power in India, particularly at the national level: Anti-corruption demonstrations in 2011 led to the establishment of the Aam Admi Party (Common Man’s Party). At the time it was seen as a potential third front in Indian politics (after the BJP and Indian National Congress). But today the party only controls one state.
Moreover, despite his strongman image, Modi consistently demonstrates the ability to adapt. After ‘sticks’ failed to quash the CJP protests, his government pivoted to ‘carrots’ – meeting with CJP representatives to hear their demands and censuring several people associated with the exam leak, before dismissing the education minister.
Following an initial period of silence, Modi himself pledged ‘swift and stringent punishment’ for those responsible for the exam paper leaks. A bill was tabled in parliament this week that entails the establishment of fast-track courts to investigate such leaks. And a taskforce led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has also been set up to look into the issue. Modi also noted that ‘nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth’.
Outlook
This does not mean that the CJP has not had an impact on India’s politics. The government has been bruised by these demonstrations. As a result, it is more likely to adopt a go-slow approach on some of its more controversial policies, including implementation of a Uniform Civil Code and delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.
And while youth led parties may have a limited impact at the national level, they could have a growing impact at the state level. The Tamil Nadu state election earlier this year saw a relatively new political party (TVK) defeat the state’s well-entrenched political parties with the aid of the youth vote.
By the time of the next general election in 2029 the BJP will have been in power for 15 years, making Modi India’s longest serving prime minister. A degree of Modi fatigue, combined with concerns about the economy and other governance challenges could yet weaken support for the government.
However, as of now it is more likely that movements like the CJP will be a spoiler that erodes the BJP’s mandate, rather than helping to create the kind of cohesive and coordinated opposition required to unseat the government.