How the ‘cockroaches’ at the Jantar Mantar sit-in are keeping themselves busy

Tanya Thakur makes her way to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar every night.

The 17-year-old distributes water bottles among the protestors camping there to ask for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. She picks up trash left behind by other visitors.

When not performing these duties, she borrows books to read from the stalls set up by left-wing student outfits or chats with other young protestors.

“I worry that if I don’t come one day, others will also stop coming and the site will be empty,” she said.

Thakur recently finished her school education in Himachal Pradesh. An aspiring chef, she came to stay with her sister in Delhi because she was keen to take part in the protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party.

The fledgling outfit started as a satirical social media campaign but has now organised protests in at least eight major Indian cities. It draws its support mostly from young people angry with the Modi government for repeatedly failing to hold examinations for medical college seats and government jobs in a secure manner.

It first staged a protest on June 6 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Then, on June 20, its leaders decided to turn its second protest in the city into a sit-in. Since then, around 150 protestors,...

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