As soon as CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke revealed his “Dalit” identity on social media, right-wing and casteist trolls unleashed a barrage of vile abuses and memes against the young leader, who leads 20 million young people.
New Delhi: India’s digital and political history has rarely seen such a seismic storm. Born out of a controversial remark by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the “Cockroach Janata Party” (CJP) is no longer just a social media trend.
Leaving the world’s largest political party BJP far behind, CJP’s Instagram following has surpassed an incredible 20.6 million (20.6 million).
But amid this historic and unprecedented digital revolution, a deeply disturbing and bitter truth about Indian society has been completely exposed.
As soon as CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who is pursuing a Master’s in Public Relations from the prestigious Boston University in the US, revealed his “Dalit” identity on social media, the right-wing and a certain upper-caste ecosystem erupted.
Those who had been enjoying the party’s sharp satire against the establishment until yesterday, in a flash, began demeaning Abhijeet and hurling casteist slurs at him.
The entire controversy began on the social media platform X when an account called “Shut Up Counsel” questioned the CJP’s Bahujan agenda.
The user asked, “Given the party’s continued support from numerous Brahminist and casteist accounts, do CJP and its founder support social justice, reservation, and Dalit rights?”
Abhijeet Dipke’s forthright response to this direct question created a storm on the internet. Abhijeet wrote just one line, “I am a Dalit myself. I hope this answers all your questions.”
This candid response from Abhijeet spread like wildfire within hours, garnering over 2 million views. But this single truth exposed the casteists on social media.
As soon as his Dalit identity was revealed, a well-orchestrated hate campaign began against Abhijeet. Accounts steeped in the arrogance of upper-caste superiority immediately launched a flood of memes and abusive comments against him.
One user used the blue symbols of Babasaheb Ambedkar and a picture of Harpic (toilet cleaner) to make a vulgar and offensive mockery of Dalit identity.
Another account with nearly 20,000 followers shared an offensive photo of a man urinating and wrote, “Bhimta spotted, party rejected.”
Mumbai-based writer Anuradha Tiwari also jumped into this hate mob. Taking aim at Abhijeet, he wrote, “So this self-proclaimed Gen Z leader is against merit. Anyone who supports a zero-cutoff is anti-development.”
Other users also targeted Abhijeet, making a flurry of cheap and caste-based comments like, “The D (Dalit) card is here!” and “Will cockroaches get reservation now?”
This entire incident has proven that when a Bahujan or Dalit youth confronts the system and leads over 20 million young people, a large section of society forgets their abilities and begins to judge them solely by their caste.
This is the same Cockroach Janata Party, which was born out of massive outrage against the Chief Justice of India calling unemployed youth “cockroaches” and “parasites.”
The strength of this movement today can be gauged from the fact that in just a few days, 20.6 million young people have joined this party on Instagram.
CJP is no longer just a humor or meme page, but has become a unique amalgamation of Gen-Z and Bahujan consciousness, a phenomenon that even the establishment has feared. This is why the party’s account on X in India has already been suspended following a legal notice from the government.
But despite digital censorship and the now-emerging caste hatred, the growing wave of the Cockroach Janata Party shows no signs of stopping.
This digital mob of over 20 million young people has now become a reality of Indian politics, one that cannot be suppressed by either the casteist slurs of the right-wing or the digital bans of the establishment.
Rajan Chaudhary
Courtesy: Hindi News