Over the past week my Instagram feed has been dominated by one thing: cockroaches. Whether they are raising hairy fists in protest, or donning suits to appear more politician-like, AI-generated images of the insects have gone viral on social media—thanks to the rapidly growing popularity of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The satirical movement sprung up online in response to comments from India’s Supreme Court chief justice comparing unemployed youngsters to “cockroaches and parasites”. Since then it has gained nearly 23m followers on Instagram—more than double the number for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Indian government thinks it can solve its pest problem with a social-media ban. At the time of writing, the CJP’s account is restricted on X (formerly Twitter). The government claims the party could be a national-security issue, perhaps funded by neighbouring Pakistan.

In fact, the movement’s “president” is Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old student in Boston, who sees the CJP as the political home of India’s young, unemployed and chronically online. Young Indians live in conditions similar to those of cockroaches, he argues. While obviously exaggerated, his remarks have struck a chord among many young people in India, where around 65% of the population is under 35. Almost 26% of youngsters are neither in education, employment or training (against a global average of 20%). And some 67% of India’s unemployed youth are graduates, a 2023 survey shows. Those with university degrees are the least likely to get a job. Besides all that, a recent corruption scandal involving leaked exam papers has left more than 200,000 medical school applicants in limbo. 

Over the past four years youth movements across South Asia have toppled governments, from Bangladesh to Nepal. But unlike those Gen Z revolutionaries, the so-called cockroaches are not torching their parliament, as happened in Nepal last September. Instead, they are jokingly dressing up as insects to clean up neighbourhoods and riverbanks. The CJP’s platform so far includes democratic demands: a freer press and fairer elections. Indian politicians would be wise to tackle the reasons that the young are angry, rather than trying to silence a viral movement.

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On at least one day this month, Delhi’s chief minister rode the metro, a High Court judge in central India cycled to work, a politician in Kashmir hailed a horse-drawn carriage and the leader of Bihar walked the entire 500 or so metres to his office. The elected head of Maharashtra, India’s richest state, made perhaps the biggest sacrifice of all. He flew economy.