India's youth desperation fuelling the 'Cockroach Party' | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC. I'm Nick Miles and today I'm. joined by our global affairs reporter. and India specialist Amrit Sen Eterajan. Amrit Sen, today we're getting into the. latest on that situation between the. cockroach junta party in India, the. youth-led movement, and the Modi. government. And in spite of a brutal, in. many people's minds, police crackdown on Monday, the. protesters' enthusiasm has not been.

dented, has it? >> As we speak even thousands of people are. converging in the center of Delhi, where. this protest has been happening for. weeks. And it is remarkable that they. have sustained and despite the police. crackdown on Monday in which the. protesters say dozens of people were. injured. And at the same time, police. also said there was violence and some. officers were injured. Now, people are. still coming. It is an organic movement, what the organizers they say. And what.

are the basic demands? Basically, they. are calling for educational reforms and. also the resignation of the country's. education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. because. a key medical exam, a medical school exam paper was leaked. couple of months ago and the exam was of. course rescheduled. That was one of the. catalysts for this particular movement. And a Supreme Court Chief Justice once. in a passing reference he talked about.

how a section of the youth are. cockroaches and parasites because. they've been involving in activism and. protest even though he later clarified. that he didn't mean everyone. It was. only those who are bogus. and not trustworthy. So now, the issue. here is what started as a you know, spark the cockroaches that has. galvanized tens of thousands of people. Even though people thought it was only a. social media satirical movement with. millions of followers on how this will.

translate into street activism, political activism. And what you saw was. how this momentum has been maintained. and now they are still pressing ahead. with the demand for the resignation of. the education minister. >> What do you see as the potential. outcomes from this? >> Now, this movement can put pressure on. the government forcing the government to. change the cabinet and dropping his. education minister. And already what. they have done is the Prime Minister. Narendra Modi has promised to set up.

fast track courts to deal with exam. paper leaks. Number one, number two, he. also promised to initiate very stringent. punishment for those involved in this. alleged irregularities in various. competitive exams both in the education. sector as well as for jobs in government. and other sectors. So, they've already. extracted concession from the. government, but they say they really. want to see the resignation of the. education minister. How far the. government go can go that we have to.

wait and see because the government. doesn't want to be seen as something. weak by accepting to the demands of the. protest because Mr. Narendra Modi has. been projecting himself as a strong man. ruler, a strong ruler over the past 12. years. And then, you know, there have. been several protests in the past 10. years, but nothing really put pressure. on the government like this one. So, how. far the government is going to accept. the demands, that is what we are going. to see. >> Now, the numbers of people on the.

streets have been growing, public. support is growing for this. Are you surprised by that? >> The whole movement is one of the very. rare mobilization of students and youth. in India in recent years. Even though. India witnessed quite a few student. movements in many years ago, but this is. one of the biggest challenges even for. the governing BJP. One reason is it has been a a. spontaneous movement. Number one. Number. two, people coming from all walks of. life. This is cutting across religion,

cutting across caste, you know, cutting. across the social classes. So, it is. attracting youth from different walks of. life. >> And that is because most people can. relate to the problems, particularly the. desperate need to use your education. as a board from which you can leap into. the rest of the world and it's closed. off to many people, isn't it? >> So, India has a population youth. population of more than 360 million. people. That's one of the highest in the. world and there is intense competition.

for people to prosper, to achieve what. they want is social mobility. And for to. achieve the social mobility for a good. future, these competitive exams are very. crucial. You know, that determines your. future, where you end up, whether you. want to become a doctor, you want to. become an army officer, or you want to. become an engineer. So, these exams play. a crucial role in people's lives. That's. why people take this seriously. And it. was not just one exam this year. There. have been repeated paper leaks, alleged.

irregularities in these competitive. exams, which means someone who can pay. money can get ahead of the queue and. probably, you know, that's a shortcut. route for success. And whereas people. who have been preparing for these exams. for years, they feel left out. So, that. bubbling anger for many years, that is. what you saw. This you know, that the. comment the cockroach became a catalyst. and it has become a larger issue of. accountability. They're asking. accountability from the government and.

questions about governance because this. is a governance issue. How come a. government cannot promise a clean and a. transparent and verified exam process. That has been the question and that is. why it is bringing people from. all across, like from various sections. of the society. It is resonating with. every family because these exams can. determine your future. >> It's galvanized many people across the. country. To what extent do you think. this represents a real threat for the.

Modi government? >> Now, many people are questioning whether. this cockroach Janata party's protest, it is going to be a one-off or if the. government accepts the demand, they will. taper out, they will move out and do. other things. Or is it reflecting a. broader anger among the youth within the. country? So, a clear dissatisfaction. Is. there any hope about the future? And. also, with the economy slowing down, and. then the government also promised. creating about millions of jobs for the.

young people, which has not become a. reality. So, people are finding that the. squeeze is happening in all aspects of. life. And they are really worried about. how we are going to manage to get a job, how we are going to be successful in. life. What we see is that economic stagnation, very fewer jobs, and the technology is. also changing. And, you know, the. government has been in power for the. last 12 years. Now, none of the. promises, or many of the promises, have. not been fulfilled. So, is it going to.

see more protest? But this is a clearly. an opportunity for those who want to. raise their voice against what they see. as a bad governance or questioning the. government. So, social media is not. something that millions of followers, whether how this can be used to mobilize. people. That is, people have been shown. that even though there were protests. against the government before, they were. tackled in a different way, they were. used force, and they were dispersed. But. this one is where the young people, they.

are social media savvy, coming together, and they can raise other issues in. future. And if they want to stop with. this, that is up to them, but they. have have shown a way where they can put. pressure on the government to come and. talk to them and and want them to listen. to the grievances over the years. >> And people have come from outside the. political mainstream to create this. party. Do you see this as a one-off or. or perhaps a template for for future. parties?

>> The anger was bubbling for a for a. while. This is a disillusionment, simmering tensions and anger and the. disillusionment was going on for years. because of, you know, the lack of. opportunities for young people. And. people want to, you know, move socially. upwards. And this is the, you know, what. they want is enough opportunities. Now, this has given them a platform to. express their views. Now, the Prime. Minister Narendra Modi in the last 24. hours, like he has come out with quite a. few statements saying, you know, they. will do this faster track courts. That.

itself many people see how they are, you. know, making the government to come and. talk to them. The government is also a. little bit worried. If you look at what. happened in neighboring countries like. Bangladesh and Nepal, you know, any. violence or it can trigger more protest. because it it the big movements, it only. needs a spark where it can turn into a. much more wider protests against the. government. So, the fact that they are. putting pressure on the government, they. are arguing with the government to make. those changes seen as a success. But in.

the long term, whether they want to. enter into the political arena, now it. is a more of a movement that is a. different story because to get into. politics, you need to organize yourself. You make yourself. accessible to everyone. And India is a. huge country with the different. languages and religion, different. regions. To establish a political party, it is a it takes a different type of. energy to challenge the government. But. what it has shown them is how far they. can question the government. They want.

to They have made it very clear. They. want accountability from the government. >> Thanks, Amritzan. And we'll obviously. continue watching what's going on in. India very closely indeed. And if you. want to hear more from the Global News. Podcast, just click on the link below. Thanks for watching.