"There are already parasites of society who attack the system, and you want to join hands with them? There are youngsters like cockroaches; they don’t get any employment, and they don’t have any place in a 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… And you people file contempt petitions.” The honourable Chief Justice of India was reported to have remarked while reacting to a ‘frivolous petition’. The backlash on social media was acerbic. A new party came out of nowhere like cockroaches, and started multiplying like how only roaches can do. Next morning, the CJI had come up with a clarification statement that read: “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 resources, 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.”
Somehow, this statement didn’t seem to pacify the angry Gen Z, and the membership of this new Cockroach Janata Party skyrocketed to more than 15 million in just two days, almost double what the BJP, with all its social media handling acumen and infinite resources, had managed to acquire in the last 12 years. Like many such movements, this real or manufactured dissent may rise and die in the social media itself, but it points to something malignant in our system.
As we all know, we take competitive examinations like NEET or JEE very seriously. Seventeen or 18-year-olds are strip-searched, treated like drug carriers or terrorists and humiliated in every way possible for taking a competitive exam. Sometimes, overzealous security staff indulge in controversial frisking, including the forced removal of undergarments, all in the name of preventing copying during examinations. We deal with the wannabe bogus degree holders and cheaters seriously, right from their teenage years. Alright, it is true that question papers do leak occasionally despite these measures, and the examinations are often cancelled. But no one needs to take responsibility for such mishaps, and no one cares except for some rogue media, RTI and social media activists. In big countries like ours, such big things keep happening. It is not patriotism to question such things and side with the roaches.
How dare such cockroaches attack everyone and raise questions on our crumbling footpaths, polluted air and water, filthy cities, or corrupt bureaucracy? The audacity of the cockroaches to question the fact that there are over 5.5 crore pending cases in Indian courts, or that the Supreme Court works only for 193 days, high courts work around 210 days, and trial courts for around 245 days per year, is enough to make any patriot’s blood boil in rage. There are roughly 5 lakh prisoners in India, of which 3.75 lakhs are undertrials, but so what? Imagine such overworked courts being flooded with frivolous lawsuits filed by bogus degree holders.
Some misguided souls say that the reason activists on social media, RTI activists, or other media are breeding like cockroaches could be the rising unemployment in the country. Only if the youth get some meaningful jobs can they stop being cockroaches. If the only jobs available are gig jobs like those of food delivery boys, they will have a lot of free time to scroll through social media and make fun of our honourable politicians, goes the argument. This is wrong. There is dignity in every labour, whether it be in managing almost all the ports and airports of a huge country like a family property or delivering pizza. Why can’t Gen Z understand this?
How can we, the generation that has worked so hard to love our country unconditionally, instil the same kind of patriotism in Gen Z? How will we convince them that, unlike the legal or medical professions, we should never be concerned about the degrees, bogus or otherwise, of our politicians? They are asking: when there is a minimum qualification even for a cleaning-staff position in government service, why does no such requirement exist for a politician heading a state or central government? How can we make them understand that we trust our favourite politicians to never cheat, but we are so suspicious of our 17-year-olds?
Many in this thankless generation are fleeing our country during this golden age. Why can’t this stupid cockroach generation understand that the exponential growth of wealth for a few families is something every patriot should be proud of, as it helps increase our GDP numbers? That millions are starving shouldn’t be any of their concern, given that we are the fourth- or sixth-largest economy? Why aren’t they happy delivering groceries? They are refusing to be blind devotees like us, and what a shame. This is indeed concerning.
On second thought, I feel we should have more hope for these escapees than for those who choose to stay behind or lack the means to jump ship. Like those of our generation, who escaped to Western countries when they could, but turned out to be the greatest Indian patriots while holding tight to their American or European citizenship, the new generation of Never Returning Indians may perhaps advise the dregs who are stuck in the gutter and have metamorphosed into cockroaches to be proud of our great nation. But would that be enough? The stench from the garbage pit has begun to overpower us, and Gen Z is restless. They are refusing to call the stink a fragrance. How to convince them? Can the non-bogus degree-holding media persons do it?
As a staunch nationalist and patriot, I am scared that the golden days of conventional media are getting over. The courtesans may soon join the ranks of the unemployed, and the gig market is already crowded. The directionless Gen Z isn’t buying their antics. The politicians, irrespective of whether they have a real or bogus degree, are finding that it is easier to buy out established media and make them coo like pigeons by feeding them from their hand, but not so easy to deal with cockroaches who never sit on their laps. Cockroaches don’t even have tails to wag for pieces of bone. They are a bloody nuisance. They tend to breed exponentially in the gutter. The only way to deal with them is to clean up the filth. But who will do the hit job?
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