Cockroach Protest Triggers Most Sensitive Debate

When the Chief Justice of India termed the jobless youth of the country as Cockroaches, an Instagram page with the name Cockroach Janta Party surfaced online and gained millions of followers in no time. This online campaign laid foundation for the recent public agitation against NEET fiasco. 

Now, a new online movement seems to be gaining momentum. This time it is the ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’ movement led by an anonymous group which demands major reforms in the long standing Reservation System of India. The Instagram page which was created just a few days ago has now clocked 2 Million followers in no time and grabbed the attention of the media and the public. 

The online group claims no affiliation with any political party but demands to do away with the caste based reservations in all forms of public life. It wants the government to stop discrimination based on caste and also to give reservation to people who really need it. 

The group has appealed to encourage the movement just like how the Cockroach Janata Party garnered support from all quarters for fair education. 

Reservation system is one of the long debated topics in India. It was introduced at the time of independence when Indian constitution came into force to give equal social representation to all castes in entrance exams of various government jobs and promotions. Over the years, the system turned out to be indispensable due to political reasons. 

So, it is unclear whether any government will ever have the courage to abolish the reservation system as it may lead to protests from backward classes and marginalised groups.