The wave of 'cockroaches' that has shaken India
Thousands of young people take to the streets of New Delhi against corruption in Modi government's university exams
BarcelonaWhat began as a mocking gesture on social media has left a large wave of protest in India that poses a challenge for Narendra Modi's conservative government. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of New Delhi on Monday in a march towards Parliament to demand the resignation of the Education Minister. The protests, among the largest in recent years, have left images of protesters hidden behind barricades and police officers charging at them with batons and tear gas.
Where does the movement come from?
The so-called youth movement of the Cockroach Party emerged when Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old Indian student graduated in the United States, reacted a couple of months ago to comments by the Chief Justice of India who compared the country's unemployed youth to "parasites" and "cockroaches". "What if all the cockroaches unite?" he wrote on social media, in a call that quickly went viral. The repercussion was such that, realizing he had hit a nerve, he decided to create a website and open social media accounts under the name Cockroach Janta – an allusion to Modi's party, Bharatiya Janta – with a biting slogan – "A political party for people who are no longer counted by the system" – and an ironically charged affiliation manifesto – it includes premises such as "Being unemployed", "Being a professional grumbler" or "Spending at least 11 hours a day on the internet"–. In just over two weeks, the Instagram page surpassed 22 million followers, more than the ruling party has.
Why are they protesting?
The trigger for the latest escalation took place this weekend, when police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk – who had been on a hunger strike for more than twenty days – to the hospital. But the discontent goes back a long way: Wangchuk was protesting because in May the exams for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Medical College (NEET) were leaked, a fact that has been interpreted as the umpteenth sign of the corruption plaguing the educational sector.
In a country where many families spend their life savings on private tutoring to allow their children to access higher education, the pressure on students is immense. In these exams, two million students compete for 130,000 places. The leak of these exams – which is not an isolated incident – has forced more than two million students to go through the ordeal of repeating the test and has led some to commit suicide, which has further fueled indignation.
What are the demands?
Students accuse Modi's government of not taking responsibility for the exam scandal. After a turbulent day of protests, representatives of the student movement met with a member of the President's cabinet, J.P. Nadda, to whom they presented their demands. They are calling for the release of Wangchuk, the resignation of the Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, and compensation of 10 million rupees (about 90,000 euros) for the families of each student who committed suicide after the leak.
Fundamentally, however, the student protests have captured a broader discontent with the country's employment situation. According to the benchmark report on employment in India, 40% of graduates under 25 are unemployed. In a growing economy, but one with a high demand for low-skilled labor and where access to higher education has multiplied in recent decades, there is a significant mismatch between the expectations of educated youth and the labor market, and a growing sense that the government is doing nothing to remedy it.
What has been the government's reaction?
The protests, which began when several demonstrators joined those who had spent the night in the center of Delhi, were quickly suppressed by security forces. The police blocked the path of demonstrators who wanted to head to the Parliament building, alleging that the march did not have legal permission. And when the demonstrators crossed the barrier anyway, the police responded with strong crackdowns and arrested at least a hundred people.
As national media have paid little attention to the protests in recent months, students and activists have opted to flood social media with videos, live streams, and even memes. But as people gathered around Parliament, authorities cut off internet service to hinder the organization and dissemination of live protests.