Sajjad Bazaz
Comparing youngsters to cockroaches, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant pricked Indian youth across the continents to respond to the unusual comparison by launching Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). It raised the temperature in the youth population of the country as they hit back at the powers at the helm of affairs in the country responsible for their plight.
Actually, it was on May 15, 2026, the Chief Justice of India while presiding over a Supreme Court bench, described unemployed young Indians as ‘like cockroaches’. He stated: ”There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment and don’t have any place in the profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, some of them become RTI activists, some of them become other activists, and they start attacking everyone. He called such individuals ‘parasites of society.’ These were not words spoken by a politician at an election rally or by a television anchor in prime-time fury. Being the occupant of the highest judicial office in the Republic of India, and being the final guardian of every citizen’s dignity, the CJI’s statement carried weight and the backlash was inevitable.
However, next day (May 16) the CJI was quick enough to clarify, saying that a section of the media misquoted him and called Indian youth “the pillars of a developed India”. His clarification in verbatim merits to be reproduced. “I am pained to read how a section of the media has misquoted my oral observations made during the hearing of a frivolous case yesterday. What I had specifically criticised were those who have entered professions like the Bar (legal profession) with the aid of fake and bogus degrees. Similar persons have sneaked into the media, social media, and other noble professions as well, and hence, they are like parasites. It is totally baseless to suggest that I criticised the youth of our nation. Not only am I proud of our present and future human resource, but every youth of India inspires me. It is not an exaggeration to say that Indian youth have great regard and respect for me, and I too see them as the pillars of a developed India,” CJI Surya Kant said.
Meanwhile, during the period of the debate over the statement, the Cockroach Janta Party nearly lost steam when the government allowed their protest in New Delhi. Without going into the extensive details of the emergence of “Cockroach politics”, as the same stand already deliberated in media and social media platforms also remain abuzz with the issue, it throws an opportunity for us to revisit the circumstances that surrounded and continue to surround the youth in Jammu and Kashmir, precisely the Kashmiri youth, from time to time.
Historically speaking, from time to time the past has scripted innumerable miserable tales of Kashmiri youth. The tales are testimony that they have always been exploited by the powers around, whether the mainstream politicians or the so-called separatist cadres. Their sentiments and feelings were always exploited by the powers at the helm of affairs to paddle their own political boats.
A leaf from the past reveals that most of our political set-up fashioned the mentality of the youth to suit vested interests of those who held the reins of power and hardly channelized their energy for overall development of Jammu and Kashmir. Strengthening the relationship between a government and the youth has never been a priority in the past. People at the helm of affairs were not listening enough and not seeking participation of the youth which led to declining confidence among the youth on the governing system. Favouritism, nepotism and encouraging corrupt practices and legalising it by bending the rules have remained hallmarks of the previous system. Now the current system of governance is rightly using the whip to eradicate the menace and bring relief to the common masses.
It’s also a fact that allegations of poor quality of governing institutions, the high level of corruption, influence of special interest groups, lack of competition, dedication, competence and sincerity on the part of all who were in powerful positions in the past always dominated the narrative. No doubt, corruption is all pervasive and no society is free from it, but here in Kashmir, the terrible nature of its size and the haughty manner in which it was treated, had accelerated the youth’s distrust in the system.
Resultantly, the region suffered from a stagnant economy and high unemployment menace. The system failed the youth to translate their dreams into realities and no light at the end of the tunnel was haunting them for all these decades.
Here, a look at the past performance of those who were at the helm of affairs merits a mention. Ours (J&K) is known as a unique place in all respects – be it our geographical location, social structure, economic scenario or for that matter our political scenario. Geographically it is remotely located, socially our structure is undergoing fast disintegration, where our social values are taking a backseat, and economically we continue to remain backward despite huge reservoirs of untapped economic potential. And politically it has most of the time remained synonymous with turmoil.
The kind of governance in J&K in historical perspective also merits a mention. We know governance as an all-inclusive concept entailing effective management of human resources, public institutions and natural endowments in the interest of good life. It implies the process by which the ruled are guaranteed the right to good life which inter alia include good housing, sufficient food, quality education, justice and fair play, security of life, liberty and property.
What happens when corruption becomes an abiding and accepted norm in a society? What happens when the levers of power decide to condone wrong, at a price and citizens recognise the weakness of those who make the law and the two join hands to break the law? It is of course scary. In simpler terms, it converts governance into chaos exposing the dignity and integrity of civil society to the dangers.
If we look at our place, neglect of even basic concepts of governance was not a sudden phenomenon. There has been gradual decline in the heritage of trust in the institutions of governance since 1947. We found borrowed ideas implemented without assessing the suitability, acceptability and adaptability to the local environment. Even lack of social discipline here has remained among the major obstacles to good governance.
When we talk of governance, it’s youth who form pillars of quality governance. As far as Kashmiri youth is concerned, the story of exploitation of his sentiments and feelings is a recorded fact. For all these decades, the political players have been engaged in fashioning the mentality of the youth to suit their own interests and there is hardly any evidence of channelizing their energy for overall development of the region. Strengthening the relationship between a government and the youth was never a priority. Most of those at the helm of affairs were not listening enough and not seeking participation of the youth which led to declining confidence among the youth on the governing system. Precisely, Kashmiri youth’s past has been pitiable.
Throughout all these decades Kashmiris suffered from a stagnant economy and high unemployment menace. This situation only produced disillusioned youth facing identity crisis. They, most of the time, failed to translate their dreams into realities and there was no light at the end of the tunnel for them.
It’s worth mentioning that a new dawn was set in motion some decade back when the central government, despite being struck by two mass uprisings in 2008 and 2010 observed patience while handling Kashmir affairs. They tailored rehabilitation and pro youth developmental schemes in such a fashion that Kashmiri youth were lured to move out of the valley to shape their careers. Over a period of time the opening of career paths saw a crowd of Kashmiri younger generation coming out of the conflict-ridden home place and getting mingled into the Indian societies/culture to such an extent that they started forgetting their pain back at home.
As the seed of getting the young Kashmiri generation into the mainstream had started germinating, things surprisingly started getting reversed. A wave of religious intolerance swept across the country. Kashmiris who were either working in different parts of the country or were pursuing their studies were targeted to an extent that they were forced to leave and come back to Kashmir. This left Kashmiri youth disillusioned.
Unfortunately, three-decade armed conflict has consumed the army of Kashmiri youth and has adversely impacted their mental ability. Today, when the youth looks at his predecessors, he gets disillusioned; when he looks at his future, he encounters uncertainty awaiting him and when he looks at his present, he finds himself in the most pathetic condition. Precisely, he’s not independent at all and is confronted with safety issues even at home, which is otherwise considered as the safest place to live in.
There’s a phrase: “Problem-free isn’t fully prepared. And fully prepared isn’t fully engaged.” Supporting youth development should not just be about building their competencies and connections, it should be an act to actively engage them in their own development and that of their societies, communities and the nation. So, make the youth partners in tackling pressing problems confronting us. They alone are the architects of the safe and prosperous future.
In the rest of the world, countries have devised programmes to channel the promise and power of youth to change their communities and their regions for betterment. We are living in one of the most difficult socio-economic and political environments. So, while pursuing youth development and livelihood programmes, there is a need to ensure safe space for them. Once safety parameters are taken care of, the power of youth in a scare-free environment will automatically drive peace, prosperity and profits.
In short, amid a lot of social and political ills nurtured in Kashmir in the past, the only way forward is to understand and guarantee a prosperous future to the Kashmiri youth. Thereby, it demands to handle them with care.
