In just under three months, 30-year-old Abhijeet Dipke — the founder and face of India's Gen Z "cockroach" protests — has acquired the kind of celebrity status normally reserved for a breakout actor or cricketer. In politics or activism, unless you come from an influential family, such recognition can take years — if it comes at all. Dipke, who recently completed a master's in public relations at Boston University, returned to India to lead the movement, leaving behind his life in the US.

On 16 May, Dipke wrote a post on X that would change his life: "What if all cockroaches come together?" It was a response to a remark by India's Chief Justice Surya Kant, who had likened jobless youngsters to cockroaches. Kant later said his comments had been misinterpreted and were directed specifically at young people using fake degrees. But the clarification did little to quell the outrage. Dipke said he wrote his post while playing a video game. "It was totally spontaneous. I had no idea it would become such a big movement," he said. Encouraged by tens of thousands of responses, he joined a handful of former colleagues and activists to launch the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), its name playing on both the chief justice's remark and that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Alongside the support, Dipke and the campaign were fiercely trolled by government supporters. Their website and X account were briefly taken down in India. Dipke says that when he wrote to X and to India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asking why the account had been taken down, he received a notice saying it had been withheld under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which allows the government to block online information 'in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State'. The ministry did not reply to the BBC's questions, but government officials were reported as saying the sites had been blocked because of 'national security concerns'. Dipke says he decided to return to India in response to this. "I took the decision to come back to India when I was called a national security threat by my own government. That really hurt me. Isn't my government supposed to stand by me when I'm abroad?" he said.

Returning was not an easy decision. In recent years, activists and journalists critical of the government have faced police questioning, legal cases and, in some instances, jail. Dipke says a lawyer he consulted advised him against returning, warning that he could be detained under the National Security Act (NSA), which allows detention without formal charge or trial. The government has always denied it takes retaliatory action but a fear of reprisal prevails. "I won't lie. I was afraid. I had sleepless nights thinking if I go back to India, my life will change. But if I sit in the US, all these people who have followed the Cockroach Janta Party, they will feel betrayed — that 'he didn't come to India, he just kept hiding in the US'," said Dipke. His family was worried too. "My mother broke down over a phone call. She said, 'Why are you coming back? They might put you in jail or attack you.' I told her I can't backtrack now because people will mock me."

The cockroach protests were among the biggest mass agitations the Modi government has seen in recent years. Despite India's impressive economic growth, education and employment remain major concerns for young Indians. A recent government report found that just over 8% of graduates find jobs aligned with their skills. The unemployment rate for graduates stands at 29.1% — a rate nine times higher than for those who never attended school. And after more than 12 years in power, Modi's government is facing anti-incumbency in a way it didn't back in 2020. But, crucially, the CJP also found an issue with broad appeal. Around the time the campaign began, the national medical entrance exam was scrapped after a question-paper leak. The scandal resonated with students and middle-class families, cutting across religious and caste lines. More than 20 students were reported to have taken their own lives in its aftermath.

On 20 July, when protesters attempted to march towards parliament, police and paramilitary forces used tear gas, batons and pellet guns to disperse them. Dozens of protesters were injured; the government says dozens of police personnel were also wounded. Images of young protesters being met with force triggered a surge of support. Thousands began arriving at Jantar Mantar and demonstrations spread to other cities. Opposition parties rallied behind the CJP. The government was suddenly on the back foot. On two successive nights, Modi released videos addressing the country's youth, saying that tough action would be taken against those involved in exam leaks. But they fuelled further backlash because he wasn't offering what the protesters wanted: the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. On 25 July, however, he stepped down, saying it was "to ensure that anti-national elements do not take advantage of the situation". Dipke was on stage at the protest site when the news reached him. He dropped to his knees, then sprang up, punched his fist into the air and shouted: "We have done it."

Now that the euphoria of that moment has passed, the CJP is confronting more difficult questions — not least how to hold on to the attention it captured. Its latest campaign focuses on conditions in government schools in rural India. "What I'm hoping to accomplish is that children in rural India should at least get a dignified education," said Dipke during a visit to a school in Maharashtra's Hingoli district. The school had no toilet for female students and expired food packets were being used to prepare lunches. At another, cracks ran through the floors, walls and ceiling. The campaign has gained some traction, but feels more ad-hoc than a planned national movement, and the CJP still resembles a loose pressure group — something Dipke says is deliberate. "People have limited politics just to elections and political parties. We want to move beyond that," he said. "What we are here for is a cultural transformation where people understand their rights, their duties, and how to hold the government accountable no matter which party comes to power."

There are also questions about what the movement chooses to fight for. Dipke is a Dalit, from a community once considered untouchable and placed at the bottom of India's rigid caste hierarchy. Quotas in jobs and education for lower castes remain deeply polarising. Over the past decade, India has also seen increasing Islamophobia and deepening religious divides. Some critics accuse the CJP of avoiding contentious issues affecting Muslims and lower-caste Indians for fear of alienating Hindu supporters. Dipke rejects this. "I was really happy when, at Jantar Mantar, I used to chant 'Jai Bhim', thousands of other people followed," he said, referring to a slogan associated with Dalit icon BR Ambedkar. "We were also chanting 'Hindu-Muslim politics will not work anymore'." For now, the bigger test is whether the CJP can turn the extraordinary burst of anger that propelled it into national prominence into something that lasts. For Dipke, a self-confessed introvert thrust suddenly into public life, the test is also intensely personal. "I'm the kind of person who would rather spend most of the day alone in my room," he said. "But now I'm out here among hundreds of people, doing what I must to keep this movement alive — and to sustain the hope they have placed in us."

Source: www.bbc.co.uk