This carnival of protest on the streets of Delhi has shaken Narendra Modi like nothing before | Meena Kandasamy

The Guardian UK Monday 19 October 2026, 07:00 UTC By Meena Kandasamy 1 min read

Key Points

The singing, dancing and sheer joy in the face of police brutality at the protests led by the Cockroach Janta party show people no longer fear India’s regimeIn July, as supporters of the Cockroach movement took to Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in Delhi, incensed over exam-paper leaks and demanding the resignation of India’s education minister, the rest of the nation realised that for the first time since the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) came to power in 2014, the curse of...

The singing, dancing and sheer joy in the face of police brutality at the protests led by the Cockroach Janta party show people no longer fear India’s regime

In July, as supporters of the Cockroach movement took to Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in Delhi, incensed over exam-paper leaks and demanding the resignation of India’s education minister, the rest of the nation realised that for the first time since the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) came to power in 2014, the curse of inertia and the grip of fear had been smashed irrevocably. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s image of invincibility has been punctured.

People in India have been conditioned to believe in an idea of intense slow-burn protests that eventually bring change – but the Cockroaches have shown us that the revolution can be fast-tracked.

Meena Kandasamy is a poet and writer based in Chennai

Delhi (LOCATION) Narendra Modi (PERSON) Meena Kandasamy (PERSON) the Cockroach Janta (ORG) India (LOCATION) Jantar Mantar (ORG) the Bharatiya Janata party (ORG) BJP (ORG) Chennai (LOCATION)

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This carnival of protest on the streets of Delhi has shaken Narendra Modi like nothing before | Meena Kandasamy

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