“Who will be held responsible for that?” he asked. “Who even thinks about the future of these children?”

(Hi, a quick note before we begin: Citizen South will now be every other Wednesday/Thursday instead of every other weekend. Also, paid subscriptions and the ability to donate or otherwise support the sustainability of Citizen South are now available. Every post remains free for now, either way. Please share and subscribe! - CS)

Cockroaches Vs. The Indian State (So far)

At the start of June, we looked at the growing public profile of the Cockroach Janta Party (or “Cockroach People’s Party”), a movement with righteous and tongue-in-cheek roots, that arose after the insulting remarks by India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant in mid-May 2026.

At the time, we wrote that:

“...the Cockroaches have gained a bit of a following, not just from run of the mill social media users and celebrities, but serious politicians too, such as the celebrated diplomat and author Shashi Tharoor, who remarked in an interview that:

“I think it is a revelation because it confirms to us the extent to which there is frustration and dissatisfaction that the public can express through being able to tap into an initiative like this.

It was obviously a spontaneous initiative but it went viral very quickly and I think it’s a very healthy thing in a democracy that people have different ways of being able to express their wishes and something that is satirical, humorous and at the same time deadly serious is an excellent outlet for the frustrations of the youth.”

Over the course of July, supporters of this “excellent outlet for the frustrations of the youth” faced off against the Indian government in wide-scale protests that resulted in severe crackdowns, with protestors being attacked “with batons, tear gas and even pellet guns”according to Al Jazeera. In addition to arresting student activists and other protestors, government and law enforcement agencies went after CJP and CJP-affiliated social media accounts, with a police First Information Report or FIR claiming that:

“derogatory, malicious and defamatory content is being circulated on social media platform targeting constitutional heads”, India’s ANI news agency reported on Wednesday.

Police have asked X to delete the alleged posts and videos from the platform immediately. They have also sought the full names, addresses and other contact details of people holding those X accounts, including their login and logout details with time and date stamp, ANI reported.

During the protests, police were also seen noting Instagram handles of protesters arriving at the main protest site at Jantar Mantar.

Modi’s government has often been accused by opposition parties and digital rights advocates of expanding surveillance powers and tightly controlling online platforms.

Even as of early August, Indians critical of Modi, even those as young as 15, have continued to receive death threats by social media accounts either linked to or in support of the Modi government, with FIRs against them having not yet been removed.

Though India’s government and law enforcement agencies tried hard to severely crack down on the CJP, in one instance attempting to plant drugs on protestors, its supporters and fellow travellers (complimentary) over June and July, it was not only able to face off against the government, but also managed to garner a few wins: the release of protest and protest leaders, and the resignation of the Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan on July 25th, in the wake of the Jantar Mantar protests (supported by the CJP and other movements) that arose in response to the leak of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (or NEET) ,a vital medical school entrance test undertaken by millions of Indian students each year.

Background to the July protests

“For decades, there has been a covenant between India and its young — pass these entrance exams and you are set … In return, the young wasted their youth in the gloom of preparing for life.”

As Ashish Malhotra writes for Truthout:

But what really fuelled the movement was news in mid-May that questions on India’s medical school entrance exam had been leaked before students had taken it a few weeks earlier. In response, the government announced that the results would be invalidated, and the more than 2.2 million students who took the test would have to retake it.

In a country with high levels of inequality and poverty, education is seen as many people’s best shot at social mobility. Poor families spend life savings and take out ruinous loans to pay for years’ worth of test preparation for their children, in hope that passing exams like the medical entrance one will give them a better life. For the kids, studying can dominate entire childhoods.

As journalist Manu Joseph wrote in the Indian business newspaper Mint: “For decades, there has been a covenant between India and its young — pass these entrance exams and you are set … In return, the young wasted their youth in the gloom of preparing for life.”

But even at the best of times, the odds are stacked against them. Fewer than 130,000 undergraduate spots existed for the 2.2 million students who took this year’s medical exam.

It’s incredible pressure. And having to go through the process all over again was too much for some to take. In the months since the exam was invalidated, the Cockroach Janta Party said 21 students committed suicide. Their families’ emotional journey has been unbearable.

“She triumphantly told me she had aced her papers,” Jafar Hussain, the father of 19-year-old Sana Shaikh recently told the People’s Archive of Rural India. “I told her to celebrate with her mother or go to a hotel and enjoy a meal.” A few weeks later, after the blow of the results being invalidated, Sana Shaikh hanged herself.

Her mother, Habib-un-Nisaa Sheikh, who travelled roughly 1,000 miles to join the protests, told the People’s Archive of Rural India that she holds those in power responsible: “My daughter died because of their decisions. You are supposed to protect us, not ruin our lives.”

Rana Ayyub, another Mumbai-based journalist quoted in the Truthout article, told the outlet that:

“These are people coming from rural areas — villages where there’s not even electricity, where parents are taking loans on their small piece of land and sending their kids for education because it’s an aspirational country. Everybody wants their children to be an Indian Administrative Service or an Indian Police Service officer,” Ayyub told Truthout, referring to two sought-after government jobs that require competitive placement exams.

At the heart of the protests, the suicides (in regards to the latter, the CJP and other protestors have continued to call for compensation to be given to the loved ones of students have committed suicide), lies an unrest that is political and economic in nature. Often celebrated as being a growing Asian financial and economic powerhouse, India suffers from some of its worst wealth inequality in decades, and high levels of unemployment among Indians under 25. As The Wire reports:

Unemployment stands at nearly 40% for the 15 to 25 age group and 20% for those aged 25 to 29 despite the fact that educational enrolment has risen sharply for over four decades, a recently released report by the Azim Premji University revealed. 

The ‘State of Working India 2026‘report highlights a widening gap between education and job creation. India’s youth population, aged 15 to 29, stands at 36.7 crore, accounting for a third of the working-age population. The report notes that 26.3 crore of this cohort are not in education and constitute the potential workforce. With a median age of 28 years, India is among the youngest economies globally, but this demographic dividend will begin to decline after 2030, making the pace of job creation in the coming decade critical.

The transition from education to employment remains a severe challenge.

The report states that 1.1 crore out of 6.3 crore graduates aged between 20 and 29 were unemployed in 2023. Unemployment stands at nearly 40% for the 15-to-25 age group and 20% for those aged 25 to 29. While 50% of young male graduates find employment within a year of reporting as unemployed, only 7% secure permanent salaried work. Further, it adds that graduate unemployment rates have remained largely unchanged between 35% and 40% since 1983.

Further to this, we have seen a significant ratcheting up of attacks on freedom of expression in India, with severe curbs placed on social media (which has also, funny enough, long been part of Modi’s own toolkit, as a way of expanding and consolidating grassroots support), and numerous media outlets being bought up by billionaire industrialists with strong ties to Modi and his party. For example:

Adani, one of Asia’s richest tycoons and a long-time friend of Modi, is a high-profile case study. After his conglomerate acquired NDTV, the channel commissioned an adulatory nine-part documentary about Modi and now lands exclusive interviews with senior officials in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Just a few years ago, sit-downs with top cabinet members were rare and managers fretted about federal agencies raiding NDTV’s offices.

Pressure to avoid sensitive topics extends beyond Modi, according to nearly a dozen current and former employees, who asked not to be identified to protect their jobs in the industry. After a US short seller accused the Adani Group of “brazen fraud” in January of last year, the conglomerate shed US$150 billion in market value at one point. NDTV’s new leaders ordered journalists not to cover the story, according to three employees, even as Adani-related shares plunged on the stock market and local and foreign media outlets published reports. Over the next 48 hours, reporters pushed back, eventually convincing senior editors to publish an article from a newswire.

Coming back to Truthout:

Among the many characteristics that have marked the Modi years is a climate of fear. Dissent is rare, and often punished. In 2021, the Sweden-based V-Dem Institute downgraded its classification of India from an “electoral democracy” to an “electoral autocracy,” highlighting “the diminishing of freedom of expression, the media and civil society.” The few major protest movements that have taken place during Modi’s 12 years in power have generally petered out without achieving much.

A compliant mediascape that has been increasingly bought up by government-friendly businessmen has only added to the sense that Modi is untouchable. And when it came to the protests, that initially seemed to be holding true.

“If we still relied on mainstream media, we wouldn’t have known the kind of police brutality that students faced on July 20, because mainstream media didn’t document it,” said Priyanshi Sharma, a journalist who co-founded Peek TV, a short-form, independent media outlet, last year.

But what the Cockroach Janta Party protests fostered was a groundswell of Gen Z activity on social media expressing solidarity with protesters, documenting police brutality, and taking aim at Education Minister Pradhan and even Modi himself. Their critiques flooded the internet, bypassing traditional media as a main artery of information.

Where Now For The Cockroach Party?

...Indian internet has turned into a relentless reel of police excesses: shaky smartphone footage, rapid-fire edits pulsing to hip-hop tracks, and a tidal wave of memes and expletives.

“This is the only thing anyone is talking about. If nothing, we are televising our revolution,” Singh, a teenager, told Al Jazeera, standing amid a sea of protesters choking Parliament Street on Wednesday. “The entire country today feels the sting of batons and tear gas with us.”

Twelve years ago, Modi rode to power and pioneered in many ways, leveraging social media platforms to reach the masses. Today, Gen Z is flipping his Hindu majoritarian party’s dominance on social platforms, weaponising against it the very tools the Bharatiya Janata Party has long relied on.

After the resignation of the Minister for Education, the CJP called for a halt to the protests, and said that now the CJP would essentially function as a “pressure group”, as that is “what India needs right now”,according to the movement’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke:

“The support that our movement received was not limited to education,” he said. “That is why we believe that, to restore accountability and neutrality in these institutions, a public movement and public pressure are needed.”

Dipke added that the CJP’s call to action was successful because “people rose above their own ideologies and political party lines to come together against things that are weakening our democracy”.

He also said that activist Sonam Wangchuk would continue to mentor the members of the political campaign.

Though there is an indication that the protests may resume – after all, it is unlikely that the BJP leviathan will back down that quickly – there has been criticism at the manner in which those organising these protests appeared to be quick to distance itself from the other so-called “Gen Z” protests elsewhere in South Asia:

(Rana) Ayyub was surprised by that.

“I understand there was violence involved [in those other movements] … and violence should never be a part [of a protest]. But I didn’t like that framing, that somehow we are different from them,” Ayyub said. “Gen Z rage is coming from the same space as what’s happening in those countries, so I felt like there were many similarities.”

But given they’ve now ended, Ayyub is not hopeful that the protests in India will create transformational change.

“There’s nothing really that’s going to change,” Ayyub said. “The country lost the momentum when it was really going in a direction where we could have sought some accountability.”

Protests Continue in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Al Jazeera Blocked

Protests continue in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir (PJK), in the run up and throughout the Azad Kashmir General Election, which began on July 27th place, and is expected to run until August 10th (the election runs in three phases, as indicated by the Wiki link).This year’s protests, called in June by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), arose out of:

“...calls by the JAAC to abolish seats reserved for refugees fleeing Indian-administered Kashmir, but who currently live elsewhere in Pakistan (they are not eligible to contest said seats if they live in PJK). On the surface, that refugees from IAK (with human rights violations highlighted by organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch) could contest elections in what they may perceive as the slightly safer PJK, and have a greater say in the fragmented country, could be viewed as progressive. What the JAAC et al contend, however, is that “this an outdated provision weaponized by political parties to influence the formation of the regional government.” As a Pakistani journalist based in PJK, Abdul Jabbar Nasir, told Al Jazeera, however:

“If the constitutional protection provided begins to be changed by these protesters, then I don’t think things can function,” Nasir said.

“It is essential for these seats to exist. If we abolish them, on one hand, Pakistan’s own case for Kashmiri statehood in the United Nations will be weakened, and India’s case will be strengthened,” he added.

He drew a parallel with India, noting that New Delhi historically kept a number of seats vacant in its parliament and the former Jammu and Kashmir assembly as a way of asserting that those bodies represented the entire former princely state, including areas under Pakistani control. If Pakistan now dismantles refugee representation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, he warned, India could argue that both countries have effectively “regularised” their control over their respective portions of the disputed region.

According to the JAAC’s own figures, at least eighty people have reportedly died in clashes with Pakistani police, with calls by the United Nations for “prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all deaths that have occurred due to the unrest, both amongst protesters and members of security forces.”

The BBC and other outlets have reported on the injuries and loss of life sustained during the clashes and crackdown by Pakistan’s state and military apparatus, as well:

At Hussain's bedside is his friend Ali. He wipes his tears away with his shawl.

"We only asked for affordable flour, electricity and our basic rights," he says, trying to steady his breath through his sobs. "Instead, our brothers are being killed. What was our crime? Why are live bullets being fired at us?"

Protesters from the JAAC say the demonstrations are about their rights, with concerns including electricity prices, education and health care. An agreement signed with the Pakistan and PAK governments back in October was meant to help. The JAAC says it's not been implemented.

The local government disagrees. They say the group is armed and that this is about disrupting the ongoing polls. And they are not willing to let the protesters march to the regional capital, Muzaffarabad.

The JAAC was banned in June; they have been labelled foreign-funded terrorists. They reject this characterisation, saying they are peaceful and - though funded from the PAK community abroad - not sponsored by India.

Rather than initiating violence, they say they are the victims and that Pakistan's security forces have been firing on them.

With the internet cut and roads blocked or guarded, getting information has been difficult.

Digital Shutdown

The ongoing internet and broadband internet shutdown, implemented in early June, continues to make life harder for traders, students and families in general, unable to communicate, given very spotty telecommunication services in the area:

With banks and ATMs rendered inoperable because of the internet shutdown, and no way to transfer money electronically, Gul had to borrow cash from friends to pay vendors and cover household expenses related to the wedding.

Other vendors also informed him they could no longer guarantee their services because of the road closures and ongoing unrest.

Left with few options, Gul postponed the reception.

“On one hand, government encourages businesses, offices, traders to deploy cashless technologies,” he said. “But when it comes to reality on the ground, the only tool they have is to close down the internet, regardless of how badly it impacts the public.”

Malik Dawood, who owns a printing business in Muzaffarabad, said his business had “completely collapsed” since June 5, the date of the last message sent from his shop’s WhatsApp account.

The anger, frustration and clashes taking place in Pakistan-administered Kashmir – which in many ways mirror those in its Indian-administered counterpart – also echo the CJP-led protests in India, and other so-called “Gen Z” protests in South Asia, with their mix of frustrations in regards to the economy, lack of jobs, and growing restrictions on digital freedom of expression.

The Qatar-based news outlet Al Jazeera has also reportedly been blocked in Pakistan, over what the Pakistan government subjectively calls “biased”, “one-sided”,“yellow journalism”in regards to its coverage of the PJK elections. This has not officially been confirmed by Al Jazeera and by the Pakistani government, however, rights organisations such as Amnesty International have called attention to it nonetheless.

Pakistan’s Dawn News has also drawn attention to new requirements by the Pakistani government for international or foreign news outlets operating in Pakistan to get hold of No Objection Certificates(NOCs) from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,

“...to travel to any city outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi for news coverage, according to recently issued guidelines.

The new Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines, 2026, outline requirements for the registration and accreditation of “foreign media houses, organisations and outlets working in Pakistan and all eligible journalists, media owners, media professionals, sources, freelancers, sponsors, fixers, attached persons, assignees etc, of Pakistan working or contributing for them”.

All foreign media personnel already accredited or registered with the MOIB’s External Publicity (EP) Wing will require a mandatory NOC from the wing for movement to any city except Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, in order to produce “news content, story, video, film, documentary or social media content” for official use.

For leisure trips to Abbottabad and Murree, a NOC may be granted by the EP Wing upon the request of the journalist, within three working days, the notification added.

The guidelines apply to all foreign or international print, electronic and digital media, including social media and web-based platforms.”

That this comes after Pakistani authorities are reportedly a bit cross with Al Jazeera and others for being a bit critical about how the state operates in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, drawing similarities with its Indian-administered counterpart, is hard to ignore.

For the people of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the question is not just about any election, when it comes to censorship and shutdowns. As an educator asked Al Jazeera, exasperated at the loss of an academic year by a whole host of students at different education levels in the region:

“Who will be held responsible for that?” he asked. “Who even thinks about the future of these children?”

Purging Archival History in Indian-administered Kashmir

“The government has been keeping an increasingly close and continuous watch on what gets written, printed and read in Kashmir”.

As part of its ongoing and longstanding drive to rewrite the historical narrative in favour of ethnonationalism and fascism, The Indian government has issued directives for the wholescale purging of any books and digital archives flagged as "anti-national" or "glorifying terrorism"in Indian-administered Kashmir, reports Middle East Eye:

In an order issued by the authorities earlier this month, the Jammu and Kashmir administration, which is directly appointed by New Delhi, called for “an audit of all books, journals, supplementary reading material, reference books, periodicals and other educational resources available in the libraries or learning resource centres.

“The exercise shall extend to the entire library collection," the order reads. 

"No publication containing objectionable, inflammatory or inappropriate content, including any material promoting or glorifying extremism, violence, secessionism, anti-national ideology or otherwise prejudicial to the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the Union of India, shall be procured, recommended, retained, circulated or otherwise made available in the libraries or academic premises of the institutions,” it says. 

The BJP leader of the opposition in the region, Sunil Sharma, said the texts of the books employed terminology like "Indian-occupied Kashmir", and labelled their presence in school libraries "a direct challenge to India's sovereignty and territorial integrity". Sharma branded their inclusion an act of "academic jihad" aimed at indoctrinating young minds.

As the article points out, this historical revisionism has alarmed scholars of and from Kashmir, that focus on the region's history and politics, with Dr. Ather Zia professor of anthropology and gender studies at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, remarking that:

“To me, the removal of so-called 'objectionable material' is not a new thing but part of a continuity in the long history of censorship and suppressing critical thinking and scholarship in Kashmir,” Zia told Middle East Eye.

“It is meant to reinforce the systemic erasure of grounded knowledges and histories of people. Any normal and intellectually healthy society operates on dissent, disagreements and critique, and examining difficult histories and multiple perspectives openly," Zia said.

"Once again, this extreme purge, which is recurring and roots out any form of dissenting or critical voice from academic and mainstream discourse, points to democratic engagement in Kashmir being a true illusion," she added.

"It tells us about a system that demands extreme compliance of thought and deed to survive, and has normalised repression."

The article also quotes “Ahmad”, a young media studies scholar, who noted that “the government has been keeping an increasingly close and continuous watch on what gets written, printed and read in Kashmir.”

It is not just in official libraries or educational institutions where the purge is taking place. Privately-owned collections held by ordinary citizens of Kashmir face silent destruction out of fear of the revisionist auditing:

Among them is Nafees, a government employee and avid reader who recently emptied his shelves of works on Kashmir, political history and Islam.  

“Some of these were part of my late father’s collection,” Nafees told MEE. “I didn't want to give them away, but as a government worker, I couldn't risk keeping them. Fear has taken over. You never know what excuse the authorities might find to trouble you.”

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Pakistan: International and Local Civil Society Appeal to End Restrictions on Freedom of Expression in Pakistan - Amnesty International. (2026, August 3). Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa33/1351/2026/en/

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(2026, August 5). Foreign press needs NOC for coverage outside 3 major cities. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2020665

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