WHEN everything else comes tumbling down, the cockroaches will survive. This metaphor encapsulates an important political warning emanating from India.

What began as an online political satire materialised on the streets of Delhi this weekend. Abhijeet Dipke led a protest calling for India’s education minister to step down to answer for the mangling of India’s high-stakes university entrance exams, marred again this year by paper leaks. Dipke is the founder of the tongue-in-cheek Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a quickfire, predominantly online, youth movement sparked in response to disparaging comments against young Indians made by India’s chief justice.

Despite Dipke’s success in rallying a street protest, the CJP is unlikely to materialise as a serious threat to the ruling BJP. But it does highlight the growing explosiveness of youth disaffection, which over the coming years is increasingly likely to erupt.

Complacency in the face of youth movements is misplaced. In recent months, young activists toppled governments in Bangladesh and Nepal. Pakistan itself has a history of youth activism in the form of the National Students Federation (NSF), which led to Ayub Khan’s downfall in 1969. More recent youth movements have taken the form........

© Dawn