Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old Indian recent post-graduate living in Boston, never planned to start a youth movement in India. But when India’s chief justice, Surya Kant, called certain unemployed young Indians “cockroaches,” Mr. Dipke took to X and wrote, “What if all cockroaches come together?”
The post went viral, inspiring Mr. Dipke to start the Cockroach Janta Party, a youth-led political movement. It came amid anger over India’s government scrapping the results of a national medical entrance exam taken by millions of students because of an alleged question-paper leak. More than 20 aspiring students reportedly died by suicide amid the fallout from the controversy.
For many young Indians, the scandal was another sign of an education system where hard work doesn’t always translate into opportunity. As the movement gained momentum, Mr. Dipke flew back to India and began organizing nationwide, calling for the resignation of the education minister.
In this video, Mr. Dipke shares three lessons he learned from leading the Cockroach Janta Party — and what young people around the world can learn from India’s Gen Z political awakening.
Below is an edited transcript of this video. We recommend watching it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the video player above.
Abhijeet Dipke: My own government was calling me a national security threat. How can my own government call me a national security threat just for using political humor?
News clip: An online satirical movement has grown into a serious political challenge.
Dipke: Enough of your lectures. We’ve been hearing them for 12 years.
News clip: The so-called cockroaches have come together as India’s biggest opposition movement since Modi came to power 12 years ago.
I did not think so many people would come out to protest, that so many people would be on the streets.
A few months ago, I was an introvert who used to sit inside his room in Boston. The only thing that was on my mind was: I need to get a job, and I need to repay my education loan.
One day, I was scrolling on my X feed, when I saw that the chief justice of India said:
Clip of Surya Kant: There are youngsters like cockroaches that don’t get any employment. They don’t have any place in a profession.
I was deeply hurt. That is when I posted something, saying: What if all cockroaches come together? If you are lazy and unemployed, click on this link.
Within five days we had crossed 10 million followers, and that was more than the Bharatiya Janata Party — the ruling party of India. And I just grabbed my head like: What am I supposed to do?
When we first started, the core issue of this protest was the medical entrance exam.
News clip: India’s biggest medical entrance exam has been canceled. Because of allegations that the question paper was leaked before the test.
News clip: I had prepared for months. I had given it 12 hours a day.
News clip: You’re sacrificing everything.
Social media clip: This is not a coincidence. This is corruption.
News clip: Students have committed suicide.
As the protest grew, it became a collective anger against the entire system.
Dipke: The biggest win is that the people of this nation are no longer afraid.
The first lesson that I learned through this movement is that you definitely need luck and timing. Even though I was sitting in the U.S., I immediately reacted to it.
As of today, we have close to 26 million followers. This just happened within a span of two months. I started interacting with nearly 50 to 100 people every day.
The youth in India feel that they are being dismissed by the people in the government. All they are talking about is communal politics, where they try to polarize the people on religious lines, using Hindu-Muslim debates every single night.
Archival clip of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Congress wants to make Hindus second-class citizens in their own country.
The real issues have taken a back seat. But the young generation — Gen Z — they are very outspoken and they don’t want to settle for less. They were writing: Let’s make this a serious platform, let’s make this a serious thing.
Lesson No. 2 that I learned from this movement was that you also need to be bold. You need to take the risk nobody’s willing to take.
I had decided to come back to my country to show that I’m not a national security threat. And my lawyer said: Are you crazy? You should not come back to India any time soon.
Dipke: Hello everyone. I have decided to come back to India.
The reporters that I spoke to, they were telling me: The day you land, you will end up in jail. You will be put behind bars.
Dipke: Let’s all come together to save the futures of millions of students. Thank you.
When I told this news to my mother, she broke down. And I told her: There is a risk, but that is a risk worth taking.
As the flight got close to India, I could see the Himalayan Mountains from the flight. I thought: This is the last time I’m going to see an open sky. The biggest concern I had was for my family.
As soon as I landed at the airport, there was a special announcement on the flight. I figured out that the authorities had come to pick me up. They said: We are not here to arrest you, just sign this letter seeking permission for the protest. I refused to sign the letter, and my lawyer told me: This is a trap.
That is when I wrote another letter, sitting in that room with 15 to 20 police officers. I wrote: I am a citizen of India and protest is my democratic right, it’s my fundamental right, so please grant me permission. If you’re not ready to accept my handwritten letter, you are free to arrest me from here.
And they said: OK, you are free to go.
Dipke: The education minister must resign. Students have committed suicide.
I immediately went from the airport to the protest site. Every single person was telling me that the resignation was not going to happen. This government never listens to anybody.
It was really difficult to keep myself motivated because of the kinds of attacks I was receiving from all ends. People were constantly mocking me, doubting me.
But I kept telling myself: Let’s not think of the outcome. Whether the resignation happens or not, that is not in my hands. What is in my hands is to try to put up a fight.
Dipke: So if this government is stubborn, then we are more stubborn than them.
Lesson No. 3 that I learned is: Be stubborn. We stayed put at the protest site for more than 36 days. That stubbornness motivated other people to come to the protest site.
Around 200 people were coming, initially. That number grew into thousands in the later part of the protest. They found courage, they found motivation by looking at other people. I started thinking that yes, there is a chance to change things here.
One turning point was when the police authorities picked up Mr. Sonam Wangchuk.
News clip: It’s been 18 days since activist, renowned scientist and winner of multiple global awards Sonam Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike.
I just broke down into tears because I felt guilty. I felt that if I had not left the protest site to take a shower, maybe the cops wouldn’t have been able to pick him up.
Five to six cops just held me, and they told me: You cannot go to the protest site right now. And I was really shocked. I was like: How can you stop me? And then these cops suddenly started beating me up. And when I tried to scream for help, to yell for help, they grabbed my mouth. They dragged me on the street.
The police used extremely brutal force on the protesters. The message the police wanted to give — the message the government wanted to give — was: Don’t you dare come out on the streets to protest against us.
I saw people coming up to the protest site with fractures in their legs, fractures on their heads, fractures in their hands, and they were like: We are going to fight this battle.
News clip: This crowd is not just unprecedented for the Cockroach Janta Party — it also marks one of the biggest protests that India and the national capital have seen.
The biggest motivation that came to me was from the people who were willing to take the same risk as me. Yes, I am bleeding, but I am not going to leave this protest site. I am here to get the resignation, and I won’t go home.
And we saw the largest crowd ever after July 21. The protest, which was just in Delhi, spread across India. They responded to the brutality using memes, using humor. And they were saying: If you want to beat us up, we are ready to get beaten up. But we won’t call off our protest until we get the resignation.
And then on July 25 —
Dipke: We have done it! We have done it!
Nobody had expected it. We were very, very excited. And we just celebrated that day like crazy.
Dipke: Education is a fundamental right. Education is not a business, it’s a fundamental right of every kid that is born in India.
It is very necessary to keep this movement alive. For more than a decade, the people in India were scared of questioning the government. Now, finally, people are no longer scared.
Dipke: Media houses will have to understand that the people of this country are pretty mad at you. They’re angry because you’re not talking about or representing them. Understanding their issues is important because they are the majority. You will have to listen to them. We will conduct a nationwide campaign and go to all states to try and understand what people’s problems and hopes are.
I want to say that the biggest learning is that we should never settle for less because it is our lives that are at stake. It is our futures that are at stake.
We are not able to manage our livelihoods. We are not able to educate our children. We are not able to get jobs. So do you expect us just to sit quietly and not complain about it?
News clip: The corruption runs so deep that we think it’s normal and that we should not raise our voices. We are here for what’s right. We are on the right side of history.
Gen Z, through their mobile screens, through their laptops, they can see what is going on in the rest of the world. They want better education. They want better public infrastructure. They want better opportunities. They always keep pushing the boundaries of democracy.
And I believe that in a democracy, this is exactly how things should be. So we are going to start a nationwide campaign where we will go to every single state of India, and we will try to understand their concerns. People are determined more than ever.
This video was produced by Rebecca Shaid and Erica Berenstein. The senior producer was Havovi Cooper. Additional reporting by Vishakha Darbha and Dan Martin. It was edited by Arpita Aneja, Julian Hackney and Jan Kobal. Fact-checking by Julie Beer. Cinematography by Prakhar Deep Jain. Additional cinematography by Kamlesh Sangare. Graphics by Emma Kumer. Color by Kyle Kelley. Mixing by Jan Kobal. The postproduction manager is Mike Puretz. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski. The supervising video editor is Jan Kobal. The executive producer of Opinion Video is Erica Berenstein. The director of Opinion Video is Jonah M. Kessel. The deputy director of Opinion Shows is Alison Bruzek. The director of Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser. The head of Times Opinion is Kathleen Kingsbury.
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