Cockroach Insult Unleashes Biggest Challenge yet to Modi’s Repressive Rule By Andrew Firmin Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved. -

Cockroach Insult Unleashes Biggest Challenge yet to Modi’s Repressive Rule By Andrew Firmin LONDON, Aug 21 2026 (IPS) - India’s strongman leader, Narendra Modi, has just been forced to do the thing he likes least: making concessions in response to protests. It all started on 15 May, when the country’s Chief Justice, Surya Kant, told a courtroom that unemployed young people who protest and speak out on social media are like cockroaches. The remark, revealing the establishment’s contempt for the country’s young people, spectacularly backfired. Within days it had spawned a nationwide movement, the Cockroach Janta Party. Its central protest demand was the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Pradhan quit on 25 July. But that may not be enough to satisfy the demand for change the movement has unleashed. https://www.ipsnews.net/2026/08/cockroach-insult-unleashes-biggest-challenge-yet-to-modis-repressive-rule/ Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved. -