How a viral post sparked India's Gen-Z protest

Engineering graduate Abhijeet Dipke said he didn't intend to spark a student movement, after India's chief justice reportedly likened young people who criticised the government to "cockroaches" and "parasites".

The 30-year-old, who was looking for work in the United States at the time, said he was "taken aback" by the comments made by Chief Justice Surya Kant -- who later claimed they were taken out of context.

Despite rapid economic growth, millions of people in the world's most populous nation struggle to find stable and well-paying jobs, fuelling discontent.

"How can the custodian of the constitution compare the youth with cockroaches and parasites, just for expressing their opinions and criticising the system?" Dipke told AFP.

Dipke went online in May to air his frustrations, making a satirical post on X that said: "What if all cockroaches come together?"

The post went viral, driving Dipke to transform the idea into a parody platform that he named the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), playing on the name of country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"Within two hours we got some 5,000 sign-ups on the Google form... and that made me realise -- why not launch an official website and a manifesto?" Dipke said.

More 30,000 people joined within 24 hours of its launch, he added.

It now has more than 22 million followers on its Instagram account, eclipsing the BJP's by 13 million followers.

"That is when I realised maybe the youth here is trying to send a message," he said.

Dipke said momentum for the movement has been largely driven by Gen Z students in their 20s.

"They told me they are really dissatisfied with all the existing political parties, because nobody listens to them," he said.

"There is some genuine frustration... not just a social media trend."

What began online has since spilled onto the streets, with CJP holding protests in different cities across the country.

Dipke, who flew back from the United States on June 6, began his second protest last month, still ongoing at New Delhi's well-known protest site Jantar Mantar.

The movement's primary demand is the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, whom they blame for repeated failures in the education system, particularly in the conduct of India's medical entrance examination.

Alleged irregularities, including a paper leak that forced a retake of the exam, have become a key reason for the mobilisation of CJP.

Delhi University student, Anjali, 25 from the eastern state of Bihar, said the "protest might have started with a social media trend, some sort of sarcasm... but it has turned into a movement of rage".

"A rage that has been accumulated in the youth for the past 10 years," she added.

Renowned climate activist Sonam Wangchuk also joined the protests in solidarity, beginning a fast on June 28.

"It is our duty to raise our voice," the 59-year-old, who remains on hunger strike at the protest site, told AFP.

"I hope that our government, the government of the largest democracy in the world, will be sensitive, sensible and responsive to the voices".

When asked about his ambitions, Dipke, who previously worked with the opposition Aam Aadmi Party as a communications strategist, stressed he does not intend to turn the movement into a political outfit.

"There is no point in making it a political party when the elections are fixed and the results are already pre-decided," Dipke said.

For now, he said, the movement is here to stay and will continue to evolve around student anger, exam fraud and wider frustration with institutions.

"There is no shortage of issues in India that need to be addressed," he said.