by poonam i kaushish
“There are already parasites who attack the system, and you want to join them. There are youngsters like cockroaches who do not get any employment…some of them become media, some become social media, some RTI and they start attacking everyone,” observed Chief Justice Gavai about unemployed youth resulting in social media going into an overdrive, exploding in controversy, creating an internet phenomenon and birth of a meme Party: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP).
For 30-year founder Abhijeet Dipke, a former AAP social worker, it started as a sardonic meme which turned into satirical movement/collective of “India’s most honest Party for the lazy, unemployed and forgotten citizens the system forgot to count,” claiming to represent young Indians disillusioned by mainstream politics. By 21 May, CJP’s Instagram account had over 16 million followers —- a staggering 1,400% increase in a single day and more than BJP-Congress followers put together.
Predictably, an unnerved Establishment still rejoicing in its recent electoral victories, withheld CJP’s X handle invoking national security following inputs from IB and blocked CJP’S Instagram page. BJP activists dubbed it political lab Gen Z project by ‘Deep State’, foreign hand, a ‘Trojan Horse has been planted from US or Pakistan-manufactured conspiracy etc.
Congress, TMC and other Opposition Parties voiced their disapproval of suppression of youth, even as they adopt a cautious approach of active listening and generational empathy. Critics averred Dipke is playing the victim card by taking down his own website, while others adopt a wait and watch approach.
Yet, they miss the point. It is a natural instinct to poke fun at power and hold it to account in a democracy. A generation’s grammar which feels insulted by institutions, ignored by Parties and patronized by leaders who speak the language of obedience. Thereby, shrinking spaces for political engagement with all points of view, so necessary in a robust democracy.
Questionably, what is there to fear from an entity that has barely been born and seems more like a satirical attempt to mock mainstream Parties? Is it because under the veil of invincibility our aging leaders are scared of a new rival/Party on the block? One that could replace them?
Certainly, unhappy with our political establishment, notwithstanding Modi being the most popular leader, economic distress, unemployment, fresh graduates who fail to qualify for even a peon’s naukari topped by NEET paper leak sans any accountability, CJP has struck a chord with Gen Z (1995-2007) desperately seeking new leaders who will give them new hope as Opposition has failed to tap this desperation for their political ends.
Though starting as a joke, CJP has evolved into something larger as repetition has created legitimacy, media has played it up while Opposition groups are having a field day adopting it as shorthand messaging thereby reflecting an underlying public mood, approval or anxiety.
Yet, CJP is not an organized political movement like a Party or mass agitation. It’s more of a discursive phenomenon — a narrative wave in public opinion. Of course there is no guarantee CJP will peak quickly and fade or represent echo chambers more than the entire electorate perhaps, even serve as tools of political messaging, not grassroots structures given elections are still decided by welfare delivery, leadership perception, caste/community equations and local governance, not by meme slogans.
But it reflects how politics works in modern times: Humour, virality, narrative and perception. A symbol of political mass sentiment in a highly digital polarized democracy rather than a real-world mobilized force. For Gen Z CJP has psychological appeal as it taps into base instincts: rebellion, group identity topped by simplification of political dominance being reduced to a striking metaphor.
Surely, our powers-that-be know cockroaches are hard to exterminate, as is the instinct to poke fun at power and hold it to account in a democracy. Only last year, Nepal witnessed a Gen Z movement which unseated its Government, fuelled by disillusions and discontents over dwindling jobs, rising prices, corruption and inequalities.
Clearly, the blocking of CJP’s account points to where the real problem lies — not in the restless young of this country, employed or unemployed, with or without dubious degrees. It lies, instead, in the too-frequent resort by the strong-armed State to quell voices of satire and humour, differences and dissent. Forgetting, democracy’s great virtue is the outlet it provides for public sentiments, frustrations and grievances.
Undoubtedly, CJP holds out important lessons which if our leaders disregard would be at their own peril. As joblessness, rising prices and all-encompassing corruption, not only create an explosive combination but lead to justifiable outrage against inequities and persons responsible for causing grief and strife to people. A lethal potent mix of economic gripes, rising unemployment and demands for political accountability.
At the same time, it’s a wake-up call for our leaders who forget they are there thanks to the hopes of fulfilling the aam aadmi’s dreams of better lives: Naukri, Shiksha and Garima. They better take heed and act with purpose and thoughtfulness. When the ‘more equals’ play havoc with people and get away with it, that’s when “Peoples’ Power” takes birth.
What next? India requires a commitment to transparency, tolerance and inclusiveness — political and economical. A sense of fair play needs a voice, which can be achieved only through public dialogue and honest discourse. Not symbolic gestures and inane diatribe which totals zilch. Our polity needs to listen to what Gen Z is saying, the reason why CJP captures their mood and resonates with them. Remember, satire reaches where politics has lost credibility.
For young voters raised on algorithmic impertinence, legacy is not charisma and dynastic surnames do not awe them. They question everything. Even the slim strip called official. Vijay’s rise in Tamil Nadu, a case in point. His victory was not about star power. It was about public mood, ready to punish familiarity whereby digital mobilization became an instrument against fatigue.
Undeniably, CJP’s power lies in turning humour into community, lazy into hyper-active, unemployed into conversationalist, resilience into survival instinct and the joke becomes a collective. For jobs, fair exams, affordable futures free speech, clean institutions and political entry with family surnames.
Time our leaders understand the best political systems are based on holding the finest tenets of honesty, integrity and fair-play. In the long term, when the voice of the long-suppressed budding Gen Z and eager Gen Y find utterance, will sound the death-knell of Indian polity. Time, now to uphold true democracy. Else read the writing on the wall: Shape up or shape out. —– INFA
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