The Youth's Power for Advocacy: India's Cockroach Janta Party
By Akshara Gudipati
In the streets of India, student activists have taken a stand to lead protests against a government that has failed them. What started as isolated student protests has now formed into a nationwide movement.
These demonstrations remind the South Asian diaspora watching from afar, as well as young people all over the world, of how much youth activism has always been central to democracy.
The sparks of protest emerged in June, when the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET (UG), India's national exam for entrance into undergraduate medical programs, was leaked. This was not the first time something like this has happened, and it pointed to larger corruption within the education system, where insiders leak exam information to outside parties such as coaching programs for monetary gain.
It might be difficult for much of the world to understand why an exam leak could spark such outrage and protest among young people. However, one must understand the role academics play in the lives of young Indian people to understand this issue.
Education has the power to drastically change one's life circumstances. This is true all over the world, but especially in third-world countries, where much of the population lives barely above poverty. Study well, get good grades, earn a high-scoring rank in your exams, get into a good college, get a good job — this is the story we are sold, but in Western countries, we have other options that can still lead to the outcomes we want. We can work jobs, get internships, and gain leadership experience in our extracurriculars. Many of us also don't have to pay for a quality education, as public schools are often held to high educational standards and receive government funding.
But in countries like India, government schools lack funding for a good education. Most people who are middle class and above pay to send their children to private schools, and government schools largely serve rural and low-income families. Many Indian families spend much of their salary on their children's education, all in the hopes that they might be able to get a good job and improve their circumstances.
In an environment like this, your only option is getting good grades, because that is the only thing that determines where you will go to college.
Now, imagine that you come from a low-income family in India. You hope to become a doctor so that you can provide for your family, who are working to pay for you to go to a private school so that you have a better chance of getting a high-quality education. You've completed high school, and you've spent the past year studying tirelessly for your medical school entrance exam. You take the exam, and you exit the testing center feeling like you've reached the culmination of your hard work. A few days later, the National Testing Agency announces that the exam information was leaked and sold, the results will be scrapped, and the test will have to be re-administered next year.
You now have two options: study for another year with money your family doesn't have, or give up on your dream and find a low-paying, unskilled labor job. You obviously can't choose the former, because money cannot be conjured from thin air. You are resigned to the fate of your socioeconomic status, and the idea of education's power for change is simply a dream.
Multiple students committed suicide after the news of the leaks became public.
The youth of India are tired of simply accepting this reality. They want change, and they want a government without corruption, one that will not continue to fail its population of 1.5 billion people.
In May, a new movement emerged among the youth of India: the Cockroach Janta Party. "Janta" means "the people" in Hindi, and the initials of the party's name are a parody of India's right-wing, Hindu nationalist ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "Cockroach" refers to remarks made by the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, who said that young unemployed activists were like "cockroaches" or "parasites" in society who use social media, mass media, and public and legal activism to attack government institutions.
Kant later claimed that his remarks were misquoted, but the name had already taken hold in the people's hearts.
In light of the exam paper leaks, the CJP called for the resignation of Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan and education reforms that would stop such leaks and delays in result declarations. When these demands were ignored, they took action, igniting nonviolent protests across the country.
It started on June 20 with an indefinite sit-in at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, and numerous activists initiated hunger strikes. Some were forcibly removed from the protest site. In response, the CJP organized a march toward the Parliament of India, and tens of thousands of protesters joined.
The Delhi police responded with violence, attempting to subdue the crowds with baton charges, tear gas, and pellet guns, and they received heavy criticism from human rights organizations and the media. Many protesters, including leaders of the CJP, were injured or detained.
However, the heat from the fire of the protests reached their target. Pradhan resigned on July 25, and the government proposed an amendment to the 2024 Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act that would increase punishment for organized cheating, paper leaks, and systemic fraud.
But the trouble did not end there. In September, a series of investigative reports from The Indian Express alleged that there were internal issues within the Election Commission of India concerning its conduct with the Special Intensive Revisions, a process for verifying voter rolls that was already controversial for flaws that resulted in the mass disenfranchisement of voters.
Critics have claimed that the SIR is working to bolster the BJP, as it has especially emphasized areas with higher populations of minority voters and more political unrest, such as West Bengal, which has a large Muslim population.
Over 133 million names have been deleted from the voter rolls, hindering many people's eligibility to vote in recent elections in India.
The CJP and various other political organizations called for the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner of India.
Since then, the movement has been organizing protests and demonstrations to fight for their new goal, and they have continued to demand accountability and action against the Delhi police for their detention of peaceful protesters. The issue is still ongoing, but the youth are not giving up without a fight.
The question is, how can we do the same here?
Democracy is being threatened all over the world, but Gen Z is standing up to protect it, not only in India, but also all over Europe and even in Southeast Asia and South America. As a collective, we are fed up.
So why haven't we seen this kind of major youth-led protest in the United States? It definitely isn't because our democracy is healthy and safe. We are also living under the looming threat of authoritarianism, and our futures look more uncertain each day.
We must not allow ourselves to be complacent or helpless in the face of injustice. We must keep our eyes on the rest of the world and follow their lead in taking control of our futures. As the future of America, it is the youth's duty to fight for a government that serves us. We must continue to ask questions, criticize authority, and hold those around us accountable, and we cannot let anyone tell us our anger is unjustified.
Sources:
Hall, Richard. “Why young Indians are fearful about the future of the world’s largest democracy.” Time, 20 Oct. 2026, time.com/article/2026/10/20/why-young-indians-are-fearful-about-the-future-of-the-world-s-largest-democracy.
“India: Excessive force used against student protesters.” Human Rights Watch, 23 July 2026, www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/23/india-excessive-force-used-against-student-protesters.
Mashal, Mujib, et al. “India Cut 130 Million From Voter Roll, Fueling Protests Against Modi.” The New York Times, 6 Oct. 2026, www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/world/asia/india-protests-voter-list-changes.html.
Sengupta, Somini. “How defiant youth are testing India’s idea of democracy.” The New York Times, 24 Oct. 2026, www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/world/asia/india-youth-democracy-protest.html.
The Associated Press. “India cracks down on youth protests as anger grows against Modi and election chief.” NPR, 10 Oct. 2026, www.npr.org/2026/10/10/g-s1-147603/india-cracks-down-on-youth-protests-as-anger-grows-against-modi-and-election-chief.