https://www.heraldgoa.in/edit/editorial/survival-instinct/477531/
Even toddlers squash cockroaches, but these ancient relatives of termites are the ultimate survivors. Entomologists say they’re the most loathed insects (the clinical fear is called “katsaridaphobia”) and history backs it up: ancient Egyptians petitioned their gods against them, while Pliny the Elder called them “disgusting” over 2000 years ago. Nonetheless, nothing has managed to prevent their survival through hundreds of millions of years, outlasting the dinosaurs, multiple Ice Ages, and innumerable mass extinctions of other species. That teeming invulnerability makes the cockroach an apt, inspired symbol to represent desperate young Indians who are seeking to reform the political system against all odds. “India is a republic of the uncles, by the uncles, for the uncles,” commented *The Economist* earlier this week, “the defining feature of the Indian uncle is his bottomless disdain for the youth of today: feckless phone-addled softies, the lot of them. They need discipline.” *The Economist* said “India is a republic of the uncles, by the uncles, for the uncles. Thus does the country produce such infantilising policies as Gujarat’s plan to require parental sign-off before adult couples can legally marry. Or Goa’s mandatory uniforms for adult students at its public colleges. Or Delhi, where adults can vote at 18 and marry at 21 but cannot enjoy a beer until they are 25. Thus too are Indians subject to the pronouncements of learned higher-court judges, over 85% of whom are middle-aged men. The Calcutta High Court in 2023 advised young women to “control sexual urges” rather than “enjoy the sexual pleasure of hardly two minutes.” A judge in Karnataka observed that it would be “better for the nation” if social-media access was restricted until the age of 18—or even 21. And on May 15th the chief justice of the Supreme Court lamented that “There are youngsters like cockroaches, they don’t get any employment, they don’t have any place in profession.”” That chappal awoke the cockroaches. The next day, Boston University student (of public relations) Abhijeet Dipke set up Cockroach Janta Party on Twitter and Instagram, as the “new platform for all the cockroaches. Eligibility criteria – unemployed, lazy, chronically online, and ability to rant professionally.” CJP racked up more than double the followers of the BJP, stirring an inevitable over-reaction. *The Economist *summarized amusingly that the “Indian uncle’s toolkit for dealing with criticism is limited. At home it starts and ends with “Don’t talk back okay!” The response of the Republic of Uncles followed the same instinct, backed by the might of the state. Domestic intelligence raised “national-security concerns”. The government restricted the roaches’ X account as a threat to the sovereignty of India. One BJP leader called the meme a “cross-border influence operation”. It is inconceivable to the Indian uncle that young people might possess agency. It is inconceivable, too, that the uncles might not know all. Half the population is under 30. India produces 5m graduates every year, but just a third find regular salaried jobs. Yet the uncles do not ask why job creation is so lacklustre. [It is] a minor miracle that the youth, faced with parental pressure, overbearing states, systemic incompetence and poor job prospects, respond only with a silly meme. Their peers in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been rather more heavy-handed with their own ageing leaders.” What is going to happen now the Cockroach Janta Party has taken physical form in New Delhi, and the silly meme comes with serious political demands? Dipke flew back from the USA yesterday, and his first words off the plane were “Education Minister must resign. Five students have committed suicide.” Then, straightaway at Jantar Mantar, “my friends, this is a long struggle. It has been a month since we started demanding Pradhan’s resignation on social media, but these individuals are so shameless that instead of taking action, they have been focused on other distractions, like hacking our accounts and getting our posts deleted. You may be able to delete our posts, but you cannot erase us from this space.” These are cockroach fighting words, and the Republic of Uncles should heed their spirit of survival. It is not too much to expect countries to provide accountability to their citizens, in fact India was founded on that principle. It would be foolhardy to hang the possibility of change in this vast country on a few young shoulders, but I would not bet against this frustrated swarm of idealistic insectoids. It was much the same phenomenon behind Cyclone TVK in Tamil Nadu, an astonishing democratic upheaval of the status quo (never mind it was the best in the country) for not delivering enough to meet the electorate’s 21st century aspirations. Those voters want better than what was previously thinkable in India, and they are not alone. Everyone has become aware how some states – including Goa – have delivered better outcomes in terms of both human and economic development, while others are amongst the worst in the world. There are obvious questions here that can’t be answered with chappals.
