Some in India's government revamp strategy for Gen Z after 'cockroach' protests

India's ruling BJP tries courting Gen Z after the "cockroach" protests in July, but authorities are also rounding up organizers on public order charges.

In response to a derogatory remark made in May 2026 by India’s chief justice, who called unemployed youth in India “parasites” and “cockroaches,” the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) was born. Rather than reject the label, Gen Z claimed it defiantly and turned it into a symbolic reassertion of identity. Described as unprec