Bouquets and Brickbats pouring in for the CJP protests
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By Syed Ali Mujtaba, Edited by Adam Rizvi, The India Observer, TIO: Celebrated author Salman Rushdie has voiced support for the youth-led Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests in Delhi and elsewhere. He spoke at a fundraising dinner for the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City on Thursday, October 15, 2026.
Rushdie stated that “India is boiling” and praised young Indian protesters as the country’s “most hopeful moment for a very long time.” He added, “I would feel wrong not to say… to celebrate the cockroach”.
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Film director Mira Nair also attended the event and called herself a “cockroach mom.” She expressed pride in the young activists fighting for democracy in India.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is not yet officially a political party, draws its support primarily from youth, students, and various political and public figures.
Leftist student groups, including the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and the All India Youth Federation (AIYH), have formally endorsed and joined the CJP protests.
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The CJP boasts of having over 25 million followers on Instagram. The CJP is mobilizing youth around issues like youth unemployment, exam paper leaks (such as NEET), and system accountability.
Now it’s pressing hard for the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner, who is alleged to have deleted 14 crore votes from the electoral roll, making India a sham democracy.
Among the political leaders backing the CJP protest are Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, and Derek O’Brien are backing the CJP. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders in Delhi, including Atishi, Kuldeep Kumar, and Shelly Oberoi, joined the demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, offering their support to the CJP.
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From Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk, the social activist, has openly backed the CJP movement, calling himself an “honorary cockroach.”
Social and political activists such as Anna Hazare, Arundhati Roy, and Yogendra Yadav have extended their support to the CJP.
Actors and filmmakers, including Prakash Raj, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Swara Bhasker and Atul Kulkarni, have publicly backed the CJP movement.
However, striking a contrarian note, Tavleen Singh, a prominent Indian journalist and early supporter of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), has expressed critical views about the CJP movement. She is of the opinion that the CJP movement is “losing the plot”.
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Tavleen Singh’s specific criticisms focus on the CJP’s shift from an authentic youth-led movement into traditional alignment with political parties. Singh warned that the CJP heavily harmed its own momentum by aligning with “leftover opposition politicians”. She argued that by throwing its lot in with traditional parties like the Congress, the CJP has risked losing its unique identity as an organic, youth-driven movement.
Singh warned that the political integration of the CJP with the political parties could be the “kiss of death” for the movement.
The future of the youth-led Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests in India is highly volatile right now, with chaos and uncertainties spilling over the movement.
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However, one thing is clear: the movement is not going to fizzle out very quickly. The government’s attempts to stop, detain, or use heavy-handed police force against the demonstrators is likely to prolong the agitation and swell the anger of the youth is going to multiply on the streets.
So, the outcome of the protests hangs in the balance right now. The agitation has the potential to trigger a regime change in Delhi or, conversely, it can fizzle out due to inherent organizational or political challenges.
The CJP movement effectively escalated from online satire into physical street demonstrations that forced the resignation of the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the NEET paper leak. The CJP has now expanded the sphere of its protests and is targeting the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner. This is not an easy job, so the “fingers are crossed.”
The CJP protests, despite an uncertain outcome, have brought a lot of energy to the streets. The anger and fire seen in the CJP protesters are commendable.
The CJP movement is unprecedented in bringing political awakening in the country. The Gen Z-driven protests are in the early days of the movement, but its energy is commendable. Those who are watching the protest from a distance may very well tell their grandchildren, ” Hey, I saw that all!
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