As I packed my bags and left to join the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar, all I wanted was to see and understand this new human virus called a ‘cockroach’. They had infiltrated the heart of the national capital Delhi, forced a powerful government to listen to them and were doing it all with a dollop of brilliant humour. Truly riveting.In the aftermath of the euphoria following the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan – the chief demand of the CJP – as the protesters picked up their backpacks and moved out of Jantar Mantar to catch trains and buses back to the small towns and villages where they came from, many would have assumed that the unrest of the last few days is over. A new education minister is in place and reform is on the anvil. Think again.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.Anyone who has been on ground zero of the protest site will tell you that the anger was not only about leaked examination papers. A deeper angst came raging from the depths of their beings at the abject failure of the establishment to give them a better life. Anger against injustice, poor governance, suppression of voices and failure to deliver on promises was in the air. There were the middle class kids from small and big towns and villages, young professionals coining mocking memes, appropriating the very government propaganda thrown at them for the last more than a decade. And alongside them were thousands of youth from what some intellectuals call the feral underclass. Those who are often dismissed as lazy lumpen elements, unwilling to study hard and generally up to no good or in other words, the unemployable. They were out there in huge numbers registering their presence and economic anxieties in so many ways. These kids who came from the hinterland, from small out of the way places have in the last few weeks learnt the real meaning of democracy, the participation in the protest was like a crash course in the value of free speech and the importance of asserting oneself. The protest was quite clearly about aspirations and frustrations of an entire generation that has grown up waiting for the promised Achhe din (good days). Sarcasm-ridden placards at the protest venue asked the prime minister to return burrey din (bad days) to them. Or, the tongue in cheek poster that said, ‘Achhe din kab leak honge (When will good days leak)’.Most are not NEET aspirants, but they aspire for a decent livelihood and a life of dignity. Accountability or jawab dehi were the buzz words at Jantar Mantar and when these youngsters go back to their towns and villages they will seek greater accountability from local administrations at the grassroots.A protestor holds a banner in Jantar Mantar that says, “Modi go back.” Photo: Special arrangement.The thousands returning from Jantar Mantar are taking back with them a willingness to speak out, unafraid of the consequences, and the courage to fight for their rights. They are not impressed with the glittering airports and fancy highways that haven’t improved their personal lives in any significant manner. As an illiterate daily wager’s passionate diatribe that has since gone viral, said, ‘Bhar pet roti khaana hi jeevan nahi hota (life is not just about having a stomach full of food)… why are lakhs of us still living inhuman lives?’Beyond NEET the public discontent visible at Jantar Mantar was also fuelled by the perception of unresponsive governance and an education system that churns out graduates and postgraduates who are unemployable because the quality of the education they are receiving is not good enough for the job market.Also read: ‘Since When is an Elected Representative Above Questioning,’ Asks CJP as Delhi Police Asks X to Take Down Posts Targeting Govt HeadsStagnant salaries, shrinking opportunities and a growing disconnect between education and employment has led to humiliation for the educated underemployed. Some of the placards, stinging in their indictment of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are unprintable. They attacked not just Pradhan but targeted Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah in the most crude and harsh manner. Sample a milder one held by a young class 11 student” ‘Dear BJP, hook your bra. Your cleavage of corruption is visible.’ Unfiltered profanities against Modi and Shah have drawn censure from many quarters but Gen Z couldn’t care less.A poster says, “Error 404! Accountability not found.” Photo: Atul Ashok Howale.Their language may have been politically incorrect, but their achievement is that they have made millions of Indians stop believing the script dished out by the government. Cockroaches have turned the ‘anti-national’ label on its head, reframing dissent as patriotism. They are arguing that demand for structural reforms, transparency and accountability is the truest form of patriotism. “Loyalty to the government isn’t patriotism,” read one placard. Another one said, ‘Chai leak nahi hui. Paper kaise hua (tea didn’t leak then how did the paper get leaked)’.And this is what should worry the Modi government. The raging cockroaches who have found a voice and expression will not be subdued easily. They want answers to the most inconvenient questions that the ruling party leaders are used to avoiding. ‘Not your silence, not your rules. Nyay abhi ke abhi (justice now)’ on the poster carried by a girl. If the middle class youth are aspiring for upward mobility, the youth from the underclasses gave the movement a rawness. The depth of their vitriol gives us an insight into the extent of antagonism fermenting out there. That these so-called ‘hoodlums’ were behaving like model citizens on the protest site is another story. They could be seen, volunteering, helping out girls and elders, picking up trash. No girl complained of harassment from cockroach boys protesting out there.Also read: Night Shifts at Jantar MantarBut they are gunning for Modi and Shah now, and have clearly demonstrated that they are withdrawing their mandate for him now. The other worry for the BJP, that probably hastened Pradhan’s resignation is that dissent is emerging from within the BJP’s vote bank. Feelings of betrayal articulated in reels, posters and sloganeering echoed around the venue. Entire families had come to support their agitating children. ‘Dada lade goron se. Hum ladenge choro se (Our grandfathers fought the British. We will fight the thieves).’Buckling before the protestors, the government forced its education minister to resign, has initiated massive reform in the education sector and signalled its willingness to course-correct. But to contain the turmoil that the youngsters are carrying in their hearts and minds as they return home, emboldened and triumphant is the real challenge for the government in the coming days.Chander Suta Dogra is a journalist and author.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.