As it goes from Instagram to the streets, the promise and peril of the cockroach revolution

What concerns me is the journey of the cockroaches from here.

5 min readJun 5, 2026 03:54 PM IST

First published on: Jun 5, 2026 at 03:54 PM IST

Though nearing 70, I am so very tempted to join the Cockroach Janta Party and participate in its activities. I look at its posts on Facebook and Instagram and wonder what explains the pull. Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has invited the youth to work “within the system you feel has failed you and push against the existing system so that it serves your needs” (‘Dear Gen Z, join the system. Change happens in mundane politics,’ IE, June 4) as the most effective path forward.

Having worked within the system, however, I failed to change it. And it was not me alone, but many of us in the civil services who tried. Thus, I am skeptical about the advice. The scenario outside the establishment has not been any better. A friend who quit the civil services, saying, “Patchwork won’t work; we need to change the entire corrupt and ineffective system,” is in no better position today. We, as civil servants, have tried both from within the system and from outside it, but have often not only failed ourselves but also the generations after us. I am sure Tharoor, too, tried when his party was in power, but the results were for all to see. The current regime has failed as well, and miserably at that.

It is heartening that the “cockroaches” are focusing on one major issue, namely education, while keeping their options open for the future. The education sector has been steeped in corrupt practices. No government of any political party has been able to contain them, as many politicians have their own private colleges and universities, which directly benefit from a flawed and inefficient arrangement. The leak of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the failure of the “On-Screen Marking” system introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are the proverbial last straws. Besides exposing gross inefficiency, both are real-time examples of malpractice, not only within institutions but outside them too, as some students, parents, and teachers are actively involved.

And the scale this time was so humongous that it has shaken citizens out of their stupor and complacency. The utter distress and revulsion have caused outrage and led to innovative ideas for change. It has happened in the past as well, only to be sucked into the same trite thoughts and actions. So, what is the future of the “cockroach revolution”? Will it die a slow, natural death, and become part of the existing order, or succeed in bringing about substantial change?

I do see and hear some dynamic young people who have ideas and energy. However, what concerns me is the journey of the cockroaches from here. That Sonam Wangchuk has decided to join them has added real value to their youthful energy. Listening to Wangchuk and learning that he was picked up without any prior intimation and not allowed to talk to his wife or lawyer for nearly a week shows how oppressive the state can become. That an activist who strongly believes in the Constitution of India was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) is another example of the ruthlessness of those in power, and it is this, too, that is being challenged today.

The “cockroaches” are thus not only challenging a corrupt and inefficient system but also an oppressive one. My only hope is that they do not allow their positive and creative energy to wither away, but remain focused on their specific agenda. I have experienced the strong self-serving streaks of politicians, irrespective of their party. So, I would not like them to start any political movement, but to come together whenever the fence starts eating the field. For politics not only corrupts, it also makes a person a slave of the very system she had wanted to change.

Can there be a model where like-minded people come together for a cause, fight for it, and, having achieved their objective, go back to their normal lives? Will the system not only resist change but also take revenge on the “cockroaches”, as it did in the case of Wangchuk? I wonder.

The writer, an IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, retired as Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development