Young people are often described as the architects of nation’s future. What happens when those architects are fed up with the system their nation runs on?  Many of them endorse a satirical online movement called “Cockroach Janta Party”.

Many young people are exasperated with politicians, stakeholders beating around the bush. They want straight forward answers and most importantly “accountability “ , a word that seems to be missing in their dictionary.

Following this resentment along with CJI’s remark of calling youngsters in legal eco system with bogus degrees “cockroaches” and people engaging in RTI activism as “parasites”, paved way to the rise of CJP. 

Only if the judiciary didn’t respond so defensively to every line of criticism as it only deepened the disconnect. What initially seemed as mere ironic response has now embraced limelight with massive following even surpassing the leading political parties in terms of social media followers.

Many young people often feel alienated from institutional politics. Moreover recent NEET paper leak fiasco ,anomalies in CBSE’s new OSM system, entrance exams being cancelled symbolised consistent failures of institutions where the future of students is on stake. This just added to their collective outrage and anger . CJP digitally resonated with people on the same issues. This gave the people a place to be heard, where their anger was shared , synchronised.

While institutions were busy covering up their repeated blunders , CJP swooped in and raised the concerns , another factor for gaining massive popularity.

It is also a serious wake up call as the youth of the country are looking up to a social media page for their concerns to be amplified and not the media. It signifies breach of trust after numerous failures.

However politics can’t se solely viewed through the lens of social media. Common felt resentment can intensify emotional front but emotions are not enough for the long run. Sustaining politics requires long term commitment, consistency and a concrete plan. What trends on the Internet may not necessarily reshape ground politics. Indeed digital politics can allow people to participate by liking a reel, following pages and reposting content.

However can sarcastic Instagram posts alone bring change ? 

It is yet to be seen whether the online driven campaign sustains itself beyond emotions or fades away and is remembered as a meme.

Further , the founder of the party, Abhijeet Dipke’s prior association with AAP does weaken the image of neutrality but does not invalidate the voices raised especially regarding educational eco system of the country.

One thing is quite clear—after multiple mishaps, poor governance, treating education as joke, keeping MPs, MLAs, ministers  on the pedestal all this has developed a wide gap of trust between youth and institutions.

It’s as if the authorities expect us to put up with this chaos, but when people unitedly demand answers, they prevaricate and expect us to be mute spectator. This is also precisely what happened as CJP’s X account was withheld. This raises concerns that institutions are well aware of problems but do not want someone pointing them out, again widening the gap of trust.

After all this , the youth is enraged more than ever before. Call them cockroaches but youth will not continue to remain silent not when their future is on the line. There are significant loopholes in system that desperately need to be fixed. Hopefully rather than banning a mere satirical account and protecting  “reputation”, institutions take accountability and focus on aspirations of youth as apathy is not an option anymore, not for anyone.

While critics may dismiss CJP as a meme because of its limitations, we cannot ignore the fact that its foundation was built on public frustration and even if CJP fades away the frustration won’t.