“Thanks for calling us cockroaches.” That was Abhijeet Dipke's message on Saturday to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, delivered from the stage at Jantar Mantar, minutes after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union Education Minister under pressure from the movement that owed its origin and name to a remarks by India’s top judge.
“I would like to thank CJI Surya Kant,” the Cockroach Janta Party founder told supporters, “If he hadn't called us cockroaches, I wouldn't have come to India. This movement would not have started.”
The comment traces the movement's arc back to its origin point, a May 15 Supreme Court hearing on Senior Advocate designation, during which the CJI remarked that “there are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment and don't have any place in the profession”. Kant later said the remark was directed only at holders of fake law degrees, not at unemployed youth broadly.
He has since reiterated that sections of the media misquoted him. The clarifications did little to stop the remark from going viral.
Dipke, then a Boston-based student who had previously worked as a communications strategist with the Aam Aadmi Party, posted a witty response on X the following day. On May 16, he announced the launch of the Cockroach Janta Party, describing it as a platform for “all the ‘cockroaches’ out there”, with eligibility criteria listed as being unemployed, lazy, chronically online, and able to rant professionally.
The satirical post gathered momentum through late May as anger built over the NEET-UG paper leak, and Dipke flew back to India in early June to lead protests near Jantar Mantar in person.
Gen Z living Sanatan Dharma, learn from them: Wangchuk’s wife
Soon after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo posted on X, “If anyone has shown what it means for India to be a Vishwaguru, it is our Gen Z.”
She went on to say, “They have lived Sanatan Dharma, not preached it. Courage without hate. Strength without violence. Patriotism without blind obedience. Unlike many of their counterparts across the world, they have shown that you can stand firmly against injustice without burning your own country down.”
In a bold message, she said, “Maybe it's time the Hindu nationalist party learnt a thing or two from these young Indians about Hinduism, nationalism, and what it truly means to be a Vishwaguru.”
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