Indian youth score a win over Modi with humor and grit
Driven by social media satire, a Gen-Z-led "Cockroach" protest movement spurned by grievances over an exam scandal caused a shake-up in India's government. DW spoke
Driven by social media satire, a Gen-Z-led "Cockroach" protest movement spurned by grievances over an exam scandal caused a shake-up in India's government. DW spoke with a few of them in New Delhi. Walking from Jantar Mantar to Connaught Place in central New Delhi on Saturday evening provided an unusual sight for the prime corridor of power in the world's largest democracy. Satirical posters mocking India's legislative, executive and judiciary were plastered on the walls, and the pavement was sprayed with sometimes "vulgar" graffiti mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These were all remnants of thousands of young "Cockroach" movement protesters who had flooded the streets hours earlier after India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. Celebrating Pradhan's resignation, which had been a core protest demand, some protesters where heard telling security officials "see you at the next protest," coming only days after several people were injured in clashes with baton-wielding police who fired tear gas into crowds. Protesters dispersed on Saturday evening in central New Delhi Image: ANI/ANI News/IMAGO Instagram was also full of images from cities across India with young people dancing in front of police officials to the line "Everybody knows that I'm a good girl, officer " from Lana Del Ray's song "Playing Dangerous." Others held posters reading: "Cuff me, daddy" and some were seen climbing atop police barricades. India's Gen Z rattles government into change The movement, known as the Cockroach Janta Party movement (CJP), came after an Indian minister publicly referred to unemployed young people as "cockroaches" in an offhand remark. The name is also a play on Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Since a scandal broke in May involving a highly competitive university entrance exam, the Gen Z protests have spread across India, challenging the political establishment with Instagram reels, viral trends, sarcastic jingles and posters. "In our generation humor has become the defense mechanism from pain, frustration and helplessness. This entire protest is driven by humor, driven by Instagram and social media," Karan Azad, a 24-year-old law student, told DW at the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi.
Another protester held a sign addressed to Modi reading in transliterated Hindi: "Buddy, you can't even make tea," alluding to Modi's boyhood days as a tea seller. A protesters holds a sign reading "Buddy, you can't even make tea" mocking PM Modi Image: Dharvi Vaid/DW "I had to do my part. I am the youth. If we don't stand up for ourselves no one else will, we have to fight this battle ourselves," she told DW without giving her name. A protesters named Tushar, also 24, was holding up a print out of Modi depicted as a fairy with words that read "I am fairy, don't touch me." He said he wasn't "afraid of a backlash" from the authorities, but rather "would have had FOMO (fear of missing out)" had he not joined the protest. Ridhima, a 17-year-old school student, said: "If not us then who? Those who are not here, it just speaks to their cowardice and I am talking about people who are sitting on their chairs in positions of power." What drove the Cockroach movement? Content creator Arun Singh, known by his social media handle "TheJhumroo," said that meme culture kept the satire and humor fresh throughout the protests." "It's the meme culture which fuelled this kind of emotion. As millennials, we developed the language of memes as we adapted to the internet culture, but this younger generation was born with memes being their language. This is how they communicate," he told DW. Singh said that the young protesters are best described as "fearless." "They don't fear anyone, they don't worry about how they would be perceived and that's what happens when you're absolutely young. That is what is driving their grit," he said. A sign in broken English describing the stress Indian students face Image: Dharvi Vaid/DW Mumbai-based comedian Aditi Mittal observes that the fearlessness of the Gen Z protesters comes from them living in a "hyper visible world".
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