Could India’s Gen Z rebellion begin with cockroaches?

WHAT if, one fine morning, a call is extended — “Cockroaches of the world unite!” And suddenly millions of pointless, lazy little creatures swarm out from their ugly dens — from behind boxes, from under beds, from the dark corners of old cupboards? Lazy, yet resilient, cockroaches refused to evolve for the last 150 million years. All they have done is survive and breed. You chase them away with a broom, smash them with sandals, spray them with “Hit,” and still they return. When filth piles up, cockroaches are bound to appear. “What if all cockroaches come together?” — this was the exact question asked by 30-year-old Abhijit Dipke after Justice Surya Kant, the Honourable Chief Justice of India, compared India’s unemployed youth to “cockroaches” during a hearing on May 15. Within 24 hours, Dipke launched a website and social media handles on X and Instagram under the name Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). The name itself mocks the ruling party at the Centre. Then there is the logo: a cockroach sitting on a smartphone with full internet connectivity — reflecting the Chief Justice’s further accusation that professionally worthless youngsters turn into media or social media activists and attack everyone. But does a cockroach really attack anyone? Its clumsy wing-flutters may create a nuisance, and its flat existence may carry messages for future propagation. It troubles, certainly, but rarely harms. Outcome of a systematic betrayal The Cockroach Janata Party expects its members to meet certain standards. Gender, caste, or religion do not matter. Interested individuals are encouraged to conduct an eligibility self-check to ensure that they are effectively unemployed, physically lazy, chronically online, and capable of ranting professionally. These criteria perfectly echo how Indian society increasingly views Gen-Z. Justice Surya Kant’s remark, his later clarification notwithstanding, was not merely a personal slip of to...

Original source: Dawn Pakistan