Abhijeet Dipke, youth campaigner: There’s an underlying frustration in India

“I think there’s been this underlying frustration among the youth of India for a very long time. If we look at the unemployment data, India currently has the highest unemployment rate in the last 40 years, and even when it comes to education, every year there’s not been one single government examination where the paper isn’t leaked, or the paper or the exam isn’t cancelled. So people are really frustrated with unemployment, and with the education ministry in India, which isn’t accountable at all.”

Yogita Limaye speaks to youth campaigner Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the satirical Cockroach Janta Party.

Dipke rose to prominence in India earlier this year after criticising the country’s Chief Justice, who had compared unemployed young people and social-media activists to cockroaches.

Dipke was studying in the US when he posted "What if all cockroaches come together?" on the social media platform ‘X’ in response.

He thought little of the post at the time. But it quickly went viral, snowballing into a youth protest movement that has shaken India’s political establishment and thrust Dipke himself into the spotlight.

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(Image: Abhijeet Dipke. Credit: Reuters)