How Gen Z are fighting to change India | BBC News

Summary

BBC South Asia correspondent Azadeh Moshiri reports on the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led movement that has become a focus for wider anger over jobs, education, and political accountability in India.

Electoral roll dispute

The immediate dispute concerns a revision of electoral rolls. Officials say the process removed duplicate or ineligible entries; the report says 130 million names were removed. The CJP, student groups, and the main opposition allege the process could undermine fair elections and are demanding Chief Election Commissioner Ganesh Kumar’s resignation. The government and Election Commission deny voter manipulation.

Protests and police response

Protests and the police response escalated in Delhi. Police restricted gatherings, closed metro stations, and detained protesters. Media reports put the number detained at about 7,000, while the CJP says it was higher.

The party’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, and other leaders were detained at the airport under preventive detention powers. The UN human rights office criticized some detentions as arbitrary and urged the protection of peaceful assembly. India’s government said its actions were necessary for law and order.

The movement’s origins and growing support

The movement began informally. Dipke says it started as a joke and social-media banter after remarks about unemployed young people—remarks many took as insulting. The name and memes spread rapidly among young Indians frustrated by unemployment and unequal opportunities.

Allegations that leaked exams gave well-connected candidates an unfair advantage helped galvanize support. The issue struck a nerve, particularly because families may invest heavily in education as a route to a better life. Earlier protests lasted more than a month and ended with the education minister’s resignation—a rare concession that showed young protesters they could exert influence.

Social media and a generational divide

The CJP’s reach is tied to social media and a generational divide. Moshiri says Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s awkward selfie video during the earlier protests became a meme, reinforcing perceptions that he had lost touch with younger voters.

Many young people, she says, do not share the admiration for Modi held by some older generations. They are concerned about jobs, press freedom, and increasingly divisive politics.

Political context

The report cautions against assuming the protests will bring down Modi or overturn India’s political system. Modi and the BJP remain powerful electoral forces. But the clashes raise questions about the right to protest, the credibility of elections, and the future identity of the world’s largest democracy.

A later opposition rally drew tens of thousands and faced less of the same kind of security crackdown.

Presenters and contributors

• Tristan Redmond — Global Story host
• Azadeh Moshiri — BBC South Asia correspondent
• Abhijeet Dipke — CJP founder, featured in video and discussed in the report
• Sorav Das — CJP leader, discussed in the report