The ‘Cockroach’ movement began earlier this week as a satirical criticism of the Chief Justice of India, who likened some of India’s youth to “parasites” and “cockroaches”.
He had said, “There are youth like cockroaches who do not get any employment… Some of them become media, some become social media, some become RTI activists and they start attacking everyone.”
Within a day, Abhijeet Dubke, founder of the Cockroach Janata Party – whose name is a play on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – asked, “What if all the cockroaches come together?”
The parody website surfaced with a five-point manifesto that promised to curb corruption, intra-party defections and increase women’s representation in the Indian Parliament.
According to Indian media, the satirical party has so far criticized the BJP over allegations of corruption, lack of employment and the recent cancellation of the All India Pre-Medical Entrance Examinations, which has reportedly led to student suicides.
The group has also accused Modi’s BJP of attempting to hack its Instagram account several times since Tuesday.
‘Cockroaches’ criticize cancellation of entrance exams
“I think it’s time to do some real work,” Dupke said in a video posted on the Cockroach Janata Party account on Friday.
They started a petition to fire India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the cancellation of entrance exams.
He asked fellow “cockroaches” to sign the petition, saying, “It is the system’s fault that has ruined the future of 2.2 million students across India. It is the system’s fault that NEET students have committed suicide.”
The NEET-UG exams were canceled on May 12 after students had already appeared for the exams amid allegations of paper leaking. The high-pressure exam is scheduled to be held again in June, but students across India have been affected by the development. According to Indian media reports, at least two students have committed suicide due to the cancellation.
DW attempted to reach out to the BJP through its spokesperson but has not received any response yet.