President of the Supreme Court of India revolts after calling young people cockroaches

The Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, caused controversy in the country after comparing unemployed young people to "cockroaches".

"They are as young as cockroaches. They can't get a job. They have no place in the profession", said Surya Kant.

The speech triggered a movement of viral protests among young people from Generation Z, who created an Instagram profile as a form of parody of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), which governs India and calls itself the largest political party in the world.

The so-called CJP (Cockroach People's Party) has amassed almost 15 million followers on Instagram in less than a week, compared to less than 9 million for the BJP. The party's logo is the outline of a cockroach on a cell phone, and calls itself the "Voice of the Lazy and Unemployed".

The Chief Justice of India later clarified that the line was referring to people entering certain professions using fake degrees, but by then the comments had already triggered viral protest movements.

India is the most populous nation in the world and also has the largest young population, with around 65% of the 1.42 billion inhabitants under the age of 35.

Government data shows the unemployment rate for people aged 15 and over was 3.1% in 2025, but a much higher 9.9% among those aged 15 to 29, including 13.6% in urban areas and 8.3% in rural regions.

The group's founder, Abhijeet Dipke, 30, said that more than 400,000 people signed up to become members of the Cockroach People's Party through a Google form, with more than 70% of them aged between 19 and 25.

The CJP says it has four criteria to join the party: they need to be unemployed, lazy, spend a lot of time online and be able to complain professionally.

Source: CNN