Irrepressible and resilient, the cockroach is a political metaphor for our times

In the English translation of Franz Kafka’s short story, Metamorphosis, published in 2007, Michel Hofmann translated the famous opening line (which included the German word “Ungeziefer”, generically meaning insect) in this manner: “When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous cockroach in his bed.”

The story is about a deep sense of alienation in the modern world where people have been reduced to cogs in the machine.

Kafka’s entomic tale looms large in the imagination this week as Abhijeet Dipke, a political strategist who once volunteered with the Aam Aadmi Party’s social media team, announced the launch of a satirical political movement called the Cockroach Janta Party.

The party’s name is a response to a remark by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a hearing earlier in May when he said some unemployed youths are like “cockroaches” and “parasites” who attack the “system”. They do this by using fake degrees to enter professions such as law and media, and deploy the Right to Information. Kant later claimed that he was misquoted.

CJI Surya Kant says there are "parasites" attacking the system.

"There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment and don't have any place in the profession. Some of them become...

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