The internet’s most popular satirical movement is going to trial. On Friday, 29 May, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav of Delhi High Court will hear a petition challenging the central government’s decision of blocking the X account of the Cockroach Janta Party.
The petition is signed by Abhijeet Dipke. He’s 30 years old and lives in Boston. It was a joke that he started, and the joke got really big really quickly. The petition was filed in Delhi by his lawyer, Nakul Gandhi of NG Law Chambers on Monday. The demand is simple. They wish that the X account be restored. The government says the account poses a threat to national security, however.
Now, Justice Kaurav will have to balance a meme-filled internet gag and an Intelligence Bureau risk assessment. This Friday will be the same in the courtroom
This is a tale of how the name came into the world.
The roots of the Cockroach Janta Party go back to the mid of May. On May 15, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant was hearing a case pertaining to the declaration of senior advocates. The judge had made a remark during the proceedings that quickly took to the Internet. He used the term “cockroaches” and “parasites” to describe some of the jobless youth who are attacking the system.
The world of the I-net picked up the line and took it on. In response to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Dipke started the Cockroach Janta Party by twisting the name of the party. The group named itself “The voice of the lazy and the jobless. People had to be online a lot, to be a member. They also needed to learn to do professional bitching.
The youth were very enthusiastic about it. However, millennials and Gen Z users made it an online trend of massive proportions. Memes swept the social media. In a few days it was reported that Dipke had registered almost ten lakh users.
Then it was the turn of government.
The Intelligence Bureau Raises Red Flags
People in India reported that they couldn’t view the CJP’s primary X account on 21st May. It was withheld from the page with a blank message indicating it had been withheld due to a legal demand.
But behind the scenes, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology pulled the plug. They exercised the powers under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. This particular law empowers the central government to restrict public access to information when they feel it poses a threat to the sovereignty, integrity or security of India. Government blocking orders are usually kept secret. Finally, however, a high-ranking government official I know gave it to the press.
The official said that the account was flagged by the Intelligence Bureau. The IB is said to have felt that the page was producing inflammatory material which was endangering national security. Due to this confidential threat report, the IT ministry has directed X to remove the account from the Indian users. Still visible to users logged in from other countries.
The security threat narrative is totally repudiated by Dipke. The ban is an aggressive censorship of political satire, he says. In his petition filed in the Delhi High Court, he has alleged that the government had “dictated” and that the suspension is “arbitrary.”
A Wider Digital Wipeout
The X ban seemed to be only the beginning. Dipke alleges a “coordinated digital wipeout” is underway.
He wrote on his personal Instagram, that the official page of Cockroach Janta Party had been hacked and its control was taken. After that, he went on to have his personal Instagram account hacked. However, the original was immediately deleted from X as soon as a backup account was created on the platform.
On May 23 the party’s website was taken down. The main site was removed from the government’s web servers, Dipke told Twitter. This multi-platform takedown is being used to make sure the movement is completely wiped out, he says. The social media is allegedly targeted at anyone who has anything to do with the group.
He added that this is having a personal cost too. Dipke is resident in the USA, but his family is in Maharashtra. He told reporters he’s been getting threats on a regular basis. He showed great concern for the safety of his family, saying that they had nothing to do with his founding the satirical party. Some reports indicate his family home in Maharashtra has now been given police protection.
The Exam Leak Protest
So, how did a meme page raise national security alarms? A recent digital protest may be part of the solution.
The CJP was also a part of the NEET-UG paper leak controversy before the website got shut down. Medical Entrance Test exam has been tainted with allegations of cheating and leaked papers. The satirical party had initiated a digital signature drive against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Dipke insists that about six lakh people signed a petition calling for the resignation of the minister using the website. This is a ton of visitors to a virtually nonexistent site just two weeks ago! A page on the internet changes from a joke to a mass petition against a sitting cabinet minister when you go from jokes to organising. It is a space between innocuous satire and political activism.
The change of focus is likely to be one of the main topics of discussion at the court hearing. It will be up to Justice Kaurav to determine whether, and to what extent, collecting signatures for the resignation of a minister rises to a national security threat.
Trouble In The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is also grappling with the consequences, as the Delhi High Court gets ready for Friday’s hearing.
A special petition was earlier filed with the apex court by somebody who was angry over the CJP. This petitioner sought an investigation by CBI into the persons behind this satirical group. The petitioners had charged the organisers of the courtroom observations with commercial exploitation and monetising their observations.
The mention was heard by the Chief Justice Surya Kant, whose first words triggered the entire phenomenon. He instructed the petitioner’s lawyer to chill out. The Chief Justice told him not to be sentimental about the issue of the Cockroach Janta Party.
