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Delhi’s Meme Protest
Hundreds of young people spent another night lying on cardboard, mats, and backpacks in Jantar Mantar, the traditional protest space of New Delhi, as the cockroach-themed movement entered its fourth consecutive day.
“Under a pale sky whitened by the heat and pollution, hundreds of young people spend another night lying on cardboard, mats, and backpacks in Jantar Mantar, the traditional protest space of New Delhi”
Organizers denounced temporary cuts of water and food in an attempt to disperse the crowd, while officers monitored the entrances and the protesters carried flags bearing the image of a smiling cockroach.
The spark of the protests has been the scandal surrounding NEET-UG, the country’s most competitive medical entrance exam, after allegations of leaks and irregularities in the grades triggered authorities to annul results and order new convocations.
The El Mundo account says the movement put Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the ropes, and it traces the meme’s origin to remarks by a Supreme Court judge in May about young people like cockroaches who, unable to find employment, ended up attacking institutions through activism and digital platforms.
From X Joke to CJP
El Mundo reports that Abhijeet Dipke, a young graduate of Boston University and an expert in digital communication, responded to the Supreme Court judge’s remarks with an apparently absurd question posted on X: what if all the cockroaches got together?
The joke exploded, and within days logos, satirical videos, viral campaigns, and a website appeared, as millions of followers arrived and the CJP’s Instagram account surpassed 20 million followers.
The article says the cockroach Janta Party (Cockroach Janta Party, CJP) became a movement capable of mobilizing thousands of young people, and it frames the cockroach symbol as resistance rather than contempt.
El Mundo adds that Dipke discovered behind the memes lay a gigantic audience waiting for a vehicle to express frustrations that had accumulated for years, and it describes the movement’s language as TikTok, with humor as a political weapon and AI used to ridicule politicians.
Demands and Government Response
El Mundo says the current protests’ immediate demand is the resignation of Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while it also describes broader stakes as whether a generation can find a new form of political representation outside traditional structures.
“Under a pale sky whitened by the heat and pollution, hundreds of young people spend another night lying on cardboard, mats, and backpacks in Jantar Mantar, the traditional protest space of New Delhi”
The article links the protests to allegations of leaks and irregularities in NEET-UG and says the government tried to contain the crisis with technical measures, including the temporary suspension of Telegram to hinder further leaks.
It also reports that, according to local media, more than a dozen students committed suicide during the days of uncertainty between exam convocations.
El Mundo concludes that Dipke insists the immediate goal is not to participate in elections, but to pressure institutions to hold them accountable, and it frames the protests as generational alienation rather than an internet fad.
