CJP’s first protest concluded as a sweaty mess of dissent on a Saturday afternoon.
The slow startDipke has found himself with a historic opportunity, and has been courageous enough to try to turn it into a movement to “change the system”.
There was no stage, no loudspeaker, no mics, until those accustomed to the template made efforts to arrange the same.
Hindutva hate could not penetrate CJP's protest — making it indeed a bubble.
The fact that the usual suspects on TV news — an extension of the government machinery — chose to ignore CJP almost felt generous.
While addressing the crowd gathered at the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, founder Abhijeet Dipke invoked the famous Spiderman quote: “With great power comes great responsibility.” It is worth holding him to that standard, and asking what CJP has done right, and what it has missed.
The CJP’s founding was an internet accident – a satire that became too real too quickly. Its Instagram handle gained a following of 22 million, far surpassing the ruling BJP. But would it translate into an offline presence? This is what people wanted to know and see happen.
Such questions were somewhat answered on June 6, the day Dipke returned to India. CJP’s first protest concluded as a sweaty mess of dissent on a Saturday afternoon. Since then, Dipke has led protests in eight different cities across the country. He was even slapped during one of them.
They then returned to Delhi on Saturday (June 20), turning the protest into an indefinite sit-in – one the police have allowed to continue despite it being illegal. Their main demand – the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan – is yet to be met.
The slow start
Dipke has found himself with a historic opportunity, and has been courageous enough to try to turn it into a movement to “change the system”. That is not a small thing.
Start with the first protest. The translation of 22 million followers into an offline crowd was weak at best. Only around 4,000 people showed up, and many of them were there not because of CJP’s pull but because student organisations like AISA, SFI, KYS, and Disha had put out the call. The rest were a smaller core of genuinely outraged, first-time protestors.
There was no stage, no loudspeaker, no mics, until those accustomed to the template made efforts to arrange the same. Even then, the victims of paper leaks or CBSE’s digitisation failure, or even the left organisations did not get the space to speak.
Permission was granted until 5 pm. And yet, the organisers packed up by 3.30 pm and left. If Dipke had insisted on staying at Jantar Mantar, we may have seen visuals of detention, and the crowd may have doubled in size as the sun set. But no such daring was attempted until recently.
Good cop, good cop
The most striking thing about the CJP protests is the absence of confrontation.
When right-wing agitators and YouTubers tried to disrupt proceedings, police quickly removed them. Hindutva hate could not penetrate CJP's protest — making it indeed a bubble.
Protesters handed roses to police officers. Officers accepted them. The atmosphere often felt less like a confrontation with the state, and more like a supervised expression of frustration.
This is not how the Indian state has treated most mass mobilisations in the last decade.
Farmers were stopped at Delhi’s borders with trenches and nails. Anti-CAA protesters were branded anti-national. Student leaders were jailed. Environmental activists have faced FIRs and surveillance. Even peaceful gatherings routinely attract prohibitory orders, detentions, police action and a relentless media smear campaign. In recent years, protesters have been called everything from tukde-tukde gang to Pakistani before they've finished uttering their first slogan. The fact that the usual suspects on TV news — an extension of the government machinery — chose to ignore CJP almost felt generous.
On the first day of the protest at Jantar Mantar, a reporter colleague of mine noticed the transparent plastic lathi the ITBP guys had in their hands and remarked, “This must not hurt a lot.” To this, the personnel and I chuckled, knowing the damage it does.
The joke captured something important. The lathi was present. The power was present. The state simply had not felt the need to use it. Perhaps the greatest compliment one can pay CJP is that it has managed to bring politically-disengaged young Indians onto the streets. The greatest criticism one can make is that the state does not yet seem particularly worried that they are there.
Safety valve theory
As one widely shared post on X put it , CJP is increasingly playing the role of a “safety valve” – one that helps the outraged express their anger without actually resulting in systemic change; releasing the excess steam while allowing the masses to “cook in their own juices”.
A mass movement cannot be sustained on anger alone. This, however, is not a mass movement yet.
A protester, who works in advertising and asked not to be named, viewed the police’s cooperative attitude as evidence that the agitation posed little challenge to the authorities.
“This feels like a controlled blast. You let people’s anger burst out and then carry on as usual. The moment you step out of these barricades with this many people and mics, it’s going to be a problem. We all know that.”
He argued that the protest remained confined within limits acceptable to the state. “It’s convenient for both the police and the protesters. The government can say, ‘We’re allowing you to protest,’ and then ignore the demands being raised.”
The protester acknowledged improvements since the June 6 demonstration, particularly the greater space now being given to students and victims of paper leaks. But he felt the movement was still overly dependent on a handful of leaders.
While Umar Khalid has been in prison as an undertrial for over five years, his name is still relevant – in the protest, and among the voices against the Hindutva ideology. Referring to him, the protester said, “There are leaders that inconvenience the authorities and those that don’t. The ones that do, like Umar Khalid, are inside.”
He added, “The mic keeps coming back to the stage. It’s very controlled who it goes to. If more people aren't brought into decision-making and organisation, then this remains a launching pad for a few leaders rather than becoming a broader movement.”
He also questioned whether the campaign’s central demand was sufficient. “If Dharmendra Pradhan resigns, they’ll be able to claim a victory. But the leaks will continue. Pradhan is just a pawn in the system. He’ll be replaced by somebody else and the cycle will go on.”
With great power comes great expectations
On the second day of the sit-in, SFI had put up its own banner with its own set of demands, and members were stationed nearby selling bookmarks and booklets.
