I was in India when Abhijeet Dipke put out his meme and said, “What if all cockroaches unite?”Almost every discussion I had with people in India – friends, people I was meeting for the first time, even cab drivers – touched on the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). People were excited, and also wary and cynical. It was online and not in person, and therefore would amount to nothing. Was it politically motivated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) itself? However, cockroaches were the talk of the town, without exception.I have been in the United States during the past month since the sit-in protest began at Jantar Mantar, and grew all over the country. I’ve been watching livestreams night and day, rooting for these brave young people, sending messages of solidarity and encouragement over social media, not knowing if they are seen and received. I was devastated, like so many others, at the heinous and illegal show of police brutality unleashed on the protesters on July 20. In response, my organisation helped organise solidarity rallies across the world. These rallies have brought together thousands of people of Indian origin who care deeply about India.Also read: ‘Who Gave the Order to Hit Students?’: Rahul Gandhi Writes to Amit ShahOver and over again, people thanked us for creating a space for them to express their pain and anger, and their hope and excitement. And their pride in India’s young. “Main bhi cockroach (I am cockroach too)” could be heard in rallies large and small, in cities across the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.What moved me the most about the mass protests, not just in Jantar Mantar but all across India, was how inclusive they were. The Jantar Mantar stage had both the Indian constitution and the Ramcharitmanas. There were little children as well as high school and college students. Protesters carried pictures of Ambedkar and Gandhi, not to mention Bhagat Singh and Savitribai Phule. There were rally chants, bhajans and rock music. It was beautiful to see a Muslim student grooving away to a Hanuman bhajan. There were even students who said they had supported the BJP in the past, but were protesting for their future.Protestors demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Cardiff. Photo: Special Arrangement.I have been, for more than a decade, trying to mobilise the Hindu community in India and the diaspora to wake up to how the decimation of Indian democracy will ultimately hurt us all. I was struck by Arundhati Roy writing about the protesters, “Thank goodness they are mostly Hindu.” Indeed, while the protests were very diverse, the majority of protesters were Hindu. Roy’s hope – and mine – was that this would discourage the police from escalating the violence further. Furthermore, I do not believe that the juggernaut of Hindutva rule can be defeated without the majority Hindu community rising up in resistance. And perhaps that juggernaut has begun to fall.For the past decade, organising meetings, online discussions, events, protests addressing Indian democratic decline that I have been in have been dominated by impassioned but grey-haired activists like me. They have also been very male-dominated. We turn ourselves into pretzels trying to unite behind rigid positions, rather than unite across difference.Also read: What It Was Like at Jantar Mantar on the Day Dharmendra Pradhan ResignedIn fact, we tend to turn our differences into walls that are insurmountable. Our intellectual discussions about militant resistance versus nonviolent resistance can paralyse us. If we stand with Muslims, we are not anti-caste enough, and vice versa. We even question the value of bringing together religious and secular people. We should be humbled by this incredible cockroach youth uprising which included men, women and even little children who felt no pressure to speak any words that weren’t right from their hearts. The leader was a Dalit Ambedkarite, but the focus was so much broader than fighting caste. These youth embodied the spirit of satyagraha with the ease of breathing. There was no tension with having people of all faiths participate. The youth have shown us the gorgeous shape of the resistance movement which they will need to keep building until Hindutva rule is defeated and pluralism is reinstated as a nonnegotiable.I am jubilant that the Indian government has accepted all the demands of the youth protesters. The euphoric scenes at Jantar Mantar are overwhelming. I am immensely proud of these young Indian heroes who faced the might of the Indian government – in the form of the vicious Delhi Police, with their lathis, tear gas, rocks and pellet guns – with courage and fortitude. They stayed night and day at the protest site, in the extreme Delhi heat, in the pouring rain, and some of them went on hunger strike.Also read: Control Over Education Is Critical for the RSS. The Sacking of Pradhan Is a Major Setback for ItUntil the welcome resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the growing pit in my stomach was a fear of increased violence by the police. If they used pellet guns the first time, what if they use real bullets the next time? Now, my fear is that the students will give up their power too quickly. They got Modi’s attention, and every demand of theirs was accepted. They also, however, held a joint press conference with the government which was focused on these demands but ignored the extreme police brutality wrought by the Modi regime. It is critical that the government is held accountable for its violence towards the students. It is also critical that the government not only make pledges but keep them.The cockroach youth uprising has already pushed through collective fear, and changed what Indians of all ages believe is possible. This Indian mother is rooting for them to carry that courage, pluralism and irreverent democratic power into everything that comes next. As vital as education is for India’s future, this movement was more than a protest movement to reform the education system. This is the beginning of a youth uprising that has the power to rebuild inclusive secular democracy in India, brick by brick. Sunita Viswanath is Executive Director, Hindus for Human Rights.