Gen Z gets into pest control: NEET protests cut across identity lines, and bypass mainstream media’s ‘manufactured consent’

They say that it's a movement born of a meme. True. But before the meme comes the word 'cockroach' - which randomly popped out of CJI Surya Kant's mouth, flew into the hot Indian summer, and established its own autonomous kingdom. Kant could easily have said 'mosquito', 'frog', 'rat', 'housefly' or 'bed bug'. But cockroach it was and it stuck. It's a movement born of a word, and underlines how powerful a single word can be.

The spontaneity of its origin, the very arbitrariness of the moment when 'cockroach' escaped the CJI's lips, is what gives CJP (Cockroach Janta Party) its authenticity. The word was amplified and touched a raw nerve, which is the nub here. Dissent can be accidental. Which is not to say it's not real. Far from it. It can also be as infectious as nationalism.

It's a curious beast, dissent. Narendra Modi was a dissenter of sorts when he first swept to power. Now, he's fighting to maintain status quo. But he had a political party backing him. CJP's strength has been its apolitical non-ideological nature, and weaponisation of whiplash humour, powerful parody and biting satire. There is an endearing ad hoc-ness, innocence and gutsiness to the movement, a sense of making things up as one goes along. Young citizens have been fighting for their rights with red roses, rap bars, spoof songs and staging innovative scenes, one of which depicts education minister Dharmendra Pradhan being trialled by a mock court.


Beneath all this, the hurt and rage are palpable. It's contagious too, drawing in support from generations older and younger than Gen Z. The immediate focus of the movement remains the NEET-UG exam, paper leaks and educational reform. But other issues have also made their way into the conversation: communalism, unemployment, independence of Election Commission and the judiciary, the future of democracy.

Protest movements in India have been focused on caste: the anti-reservation protests, or Chandrashekhar Azad's 'The Great Chamar' resistance; occupation: the farmers' protest; religion: anti-CAA protests; gender: 'Nirbhaya'. CJP cuts across the caste, class, religion and gender divide.

GoI insists on treating it like any other protest to be quelled, using the same playbook. Which is a fatal error. The unseemly manner in which a frail Sonam Wangchuk was removed from his perch in Jantar Mantar, and the subsequent brutal and perverse violence unleashed on peaceful protesters by RAF and Delhi Police, has only swelled the ranks of CJP empathisers. Lakhs more poured into Jantar Mantar, and protests spread across the country.

By airlifting an additional 20 companies of CRPF from Kolkata, to 'fortify' the protest site, and by stacking Sansad Marg Police Station with even more tear gas canisters, the home ministry is only adding ethanol-blended fuel to a bonfire. Attitude of the state to dissent is to treat students like actual cockroaches to be stomped on with a boot. They've succumbed wholly to the metaphor. Thus GoI granting Delhi Commissioner of Police detention powers under National Security Act (NSA) 1980 - by which individuals can be detained without formal charges from 12 days to 12 mths - for the next 3 mths.

Indian kids are not seen to be particularly rebellious. Parents choose your spouse and profession. You toe the line. My generation, which passed out of college at the turn of the century, didn't feel the need to protest. We were the children of Manmohan Singh's liberalisation, hopeful of a booming economy, bored of socialism, seduced by malls and glass-fronted buildings. Gen Z has not only turned phones into weapons, making traditional media irrelevant, but also demonstrated that it can manifest legitimate anxieties and concerns on the ground, and take on the power of the state in a loud unified democratic voice.

The state has its own worries. Sometimes, a local issue, pertaining to the student body, provides the spark for a larger movement, which then taps into the simmering resentment in wider society. In the case of Navnirman Andolan in Gujarat in 1974, it was a 20% hike in hostel mess rates for substandard food in an engineering college.

It escalated due to public anger over rising prices, unemployment and food scarcity. This then spilled over into the alleged corruption and maladministration of chief minister Chimanbhai Patel, eventually leading to his resignation. Navnirman Andolan is seen as a precursor to Jayaprakash Narayan's movement in Bihar, which, in turn, led to the Emergency.

GoI would do well to remember that dissent in India has a rich tradition. In the hagiographies surrounding Bhakti poets Kabir and Tukaram, they, and their work, like cockroaches, refuse to die. Kabir is tied in iron chains with a heavy stone, and thrown into the Ganga on the orders of king Sikandar Lodi. The chains snap, and Kabir is seen sitting serenely on the water, or floating on a deerskin.

Tukaram, the story goes, was forced to sink his manuscript of 700 poems in the local river Indrayani, and which was miraculously restored after he undertook a fast-unto-death.