Christians Join Gen Z ‘Cockroach’ Protests in India

Alvin Joseph was not particularly interested in politics and protests until this past July, when his Instagram feed started to fill with hundreds of reels from a Gen Z protest calling for the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan following a college exam scandal. The 23-year-old law student and worship leader could no longer ignore the Cockroach Janta Party, the fledgling satirical movement leading the protest, and its call to march on Parliament. Beyond the leak of a nationwide entrance exam for medical colleges, young people were fed up with unemployment and dissatisfied with the establishment. On July 20, Joseph joined thousands of youths in New Delhi for the protest. When police in riot gear tried to disperse the crowds with batons and tear gas, he fell to the ground with severe pain in his calves. He could not open his eyes or breathe properly for nearly 10 minutes. Other protesters rushed him to a nearby sidewalk to wash out his eyes and offered him water. “It was like shards of glasses piercing through my skin,” Joseph told Christianity Today. “Yet it felt good; I am proud that I stood up for what was right.” Other protesters said police used pellet guns, tasers, and batons embedded with nails against them. Yet the next day, the young demonstrators—including Joseph, whose legs were still swelling—returned to the streets. Five days later, Pradhan resigned, a victory for India’s Gen Z protesters and a loss of face for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist government has long crushed dissent. As the protests wound down, people were quick to underline the importance of the moment on social media, circulating an old video of a Modi cabinet member saying, in effect, “ministers do not have to resign [in this government].” In a marked difference from the generations before them who shunned politics and typically laid low as a religious minority, Christian Gen Zers showed up at these demonstrations in large numbers. They sang, clapped, and worshiped amid the crowds. Some prayed for divine peace and protection for protesters. Many handed out food and beverages to protesters. They shot Instagram reels of themselves at the demonstrations, prompting other Christians like Joseph to join. Christian young people who spoke to CT said prayer alone without standing up for what’s right is unbiblical. Joseph cited Proverbs 31:8–9—“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves … defend the rights of the poor and needy”—adding, “As a law student, I cannot claim to defend justice if I stay quiet when others are suffering.” The protests erupted after authorities scrapped the results of the May 3 admission exam for medical colleges, called the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), following an alleged leak of exam questions. This forced nearly 2 million students to retake the test on June 21. The cancellation, uncertainty over results, and the new exam date exacerbated the stress on test takers, many of whom had spent years studying for it. As many as 21 students reportedly have died by suicide, and their families blame the fallout from the exam scandal. Anit Bedare, 19, of Pune, a city in Maharashtra state in western India, said the government hasn’t taken seriously the issues surrounding such a high-stakes exam. He prepared for two years before taking the NEET in May and was forced to retake the exam after the scandal. He passed the retest, but others who were certain they passed previously did not. “For medical [school] aspirants, it is a life-defining moment,” Bedare said. “The government’s credibility is lost anyway, but our credibility could be lost as well when we become doctors” because they passed what might be perceived as a compromised exam.