We all are cockroaches

Yes, you read it right. As Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said - the unemployed youth of India is not human anymore; we have become cockroaches. They end up becoming media persons, social media users, or RTI activists who "start attacking the system".

These remarks were made during a hearing before the bench of CJI Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, which was hearing a petition filed by Delhi High Court advocate Sanjay Dubey seeking designation as a Senior Advocate.

The CJI said—perhaps the whole world can become a senior advocate, but you cannot. Do you also want to join such unemployed youth who can neither become a part of the system nor get jobs, and who start eating the system like termites, becoming "parasites who attack the system"? They become activists, they become lawyers, they come to the streets... Do you want to be included among them?

The CJI’s statement is facing immense backlash because he has, in a highly generalized manner, labeled all unemployed social media users and media persons as cockroaches.And all these remarks have not been made by just anyone, but by a person sitting on the most respected post in the country.

Look, to be very honest, sometimes we do see videos where we wonder what the point even was , senseless things are being said just to gain views and earn money.

But at the same time, there are so many people who are using that very media to do excellent work. Someone is providing vital information, someone is making us laugh a little in our stressful lives, and someone is educating people by sharing new tricks and techniques.

So does the CJI really think the youth of this country are so worthless and incompetent?

For such a generalized statement to come from the mouth of the Chief Justice of India is highly shameful, especially when India is the youngest country in the entire world. The average age of India's population is the lowest among all nations.

The CJI also said that people who are activists are interrupting the working system and are parasites of society.

Activism is like the watchdog of society. They keep an eye on matters and issues that are missed by politicians or the government. And we must not forget how many important laws activism has given to India.

For instance:

The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989

The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005

The Forest Rights Act 2006

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013

and many more….

All these acts are the result of the efforts of activists. So, these are not just activists; these are pressure groups working every single day to make India better.

The youth is doing the work that the system should have done, and in your words, this very "cockroach youth" is doing it.

Therefore, it is so disgusting for a person sitting on such a high post to give such a generalized statement. Many of these people are trying to bring reforms through their efforts and are putting forward the right things.

Please, someone go and tell him that questioning the system is not attacking the system.

Now, the CJI has given a clarifying statement :

He clarified that he had spoken those words only for the people who are sitting in the system with fake degrees.

Well, now that the topic of fake degrees has come up, let us speak up too.

Everyone is after the youth, everyone wants to investigate whether their degrees are fake or real. What about the politicians who are already sitting inside the system? Why does no one question them?

When the question was raised regarding the Prime Minister Modi’s degree asking whether the Prime Minister of our country is educated and the Central Information Commission ordered Delhi University to show the BA records of 1978, the Delhi High Court set aside that order, stating it was of no public interest or public use.

When questions were raised about the degree of Smriti Irani (former Union Minister of Human Resource Development and Education) , where was the judiciary then? Why did it not occur to the judiciary then to check whether a person sitting on such an important post in the system might possess fake degrees?

The case of the former Delhi Law Minister is also exactly the same.

Where was the judiciary then?

The courts are highly enthusiastic about checking the degrees of the powerless youth, but when it comes to questioning the qualifications of people sitting on such important posts running the country, leave about questioning, the court sidelined the matter.

Countless questions are hurled at the youth, but there is no courage to question those sitting at the very top running the system.

You are telling the youth that they are entering the system with fake degrees and hollowing it out.

What about the people who actually make the laws?

Almost half of the MPs and MLAs have criminal cases against them. Those who are supposed to protect the system are protected by the judiciary itself, despite being criminals.

What about the UPSC reservation scam?

Those who are sitting and working inside the system by forging fake EWS certificates , will you not question them? Do you have no remarks on this? One day the news appears in the newspaper, and the next day everything goes back to normal.

It must be difficult, right? You won't be able to do it because big posts are involved, we can understand. You are sitting at the absolute top, so targeting the unemployed youth is very easy; it is the easiest option.

And we will talk about the biasness of the judiciary some other day.

Anyway, no problem. Listening to you and agreeing with your words, what does this government do to the youth who honestly want to study and obtain a legitimate degree?

Paper Leaks....

The system treats paper leaks like an annual festival. We don’t miss a single year. Let’s look at this wonderful timeline of the system’s achievements that blesses lakhs of applicants every single year:

2013 — The Legendary Vyapam Scam (Madhya Pradesh): This is one of India’s largest and most notorious entrance examinations, admission, and recruitment scandals . The scam involved massive corruption, collusion, and forgery within the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB),

2014 — GPSC Chief Officer Leak (Gujarat): Why wait for results when the system can leak the paper early?

2015 — AIPMT National Leak (All India): Affecting over 6 lakh medical aspirants. The paper leaked so beautifully via electronic devices that the Supreme Court had to cancel the entire exam.

2016 — Bihar Class 10 & Talati Leaks: Proving that the system believes in equality. From minor schoolchildren to adults trying to get a basic government job, everyone got a taste of a compromised paper.

2017 — SSC CGL Scam & AIIMS MBBS Leak: Tens of lakhs of youth sat on the roads protesting the Staff Selection Commission leak while the top medical entrance papers leaked concurrently. Two national disasters in one single year.

2018 — CBSE Class 10 & 12 Boards: The system decided that competitive exams were too mainstream, so they leaked the actual school board papers. Even children were given a formal introduction to the system before graduating.

2019 — Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) CBT Leak: Over 1 crore applicants applied for railway jobs. The system graciously leaked screenshots of the question papers on social media, saving candidates the trouble of studying.

2020 — State Recruitment Pauses & Leaks: While the world was fighting a pandemic, our exam systems were busy leaking administrative and police papers behind closed doors because the hustle never stops.

2021 — The REET Mega Scam & UPTET Disaster: Over 16 lakh candidates for REET in Rajasthan and over 20 lakh for UPTET in Uttar Pradesh saw their lives ruined. The UPTET paper leaked on WhatsApp while students were sitting in the exam hall. This is peak digital India.

2022 — Rajasthan Constable & UP Board Leaks: Affecting millions of candidates. The police recruitment paper leaked, ensuring that the future keepers of law and order entered the system through an illegal shortcut.

2023 — TSPSC & Junior Clerk Leaks: From Telangana to Gujarat, exams were cancelled hours before the start, wasting the years of preparation and hard-earned travel money of lakhs of students.

2024 — The Great NEET-UG & UGC-NET blunder: Over 24 lakh medical aspirants and 9 lakh professors-to-be were hit by simultaneous national-level paper leaks and sudden cancellations.

2025 — State-Level Recruitment Tragedies: Continuing the legacy without a break, dozens of state recruitment board exams fell victim to solver gangs and Bluetooth cheating rackets.

2026 — NEET-UG Paper Leak : Another NTA scam , And right now, the CBI is investigating yet another massive NEET paper leak where question papers were discovered on a teacher’s mobile phone ten days before the exam.

The poor youth has studied properly, worked hard, and wants to build a career and then, a paper leak occurs. They do not know if the exam will happen again, when it will happen, or when the judiciary will deliver a judgment.

What option is left for them? To sit quietly at home in despair, even when it is not their fault. And when this youth takes to the streets to appeal, when they step out to raise their voice for their rights, you will turn around and say - the youth is unemployed, and then you will call them parasites and cockroaches.

Forget about moving forward; let us look back.

Let us talk about the most basic necessity. The very air you are breathing is not clean. The day is not far when everyone will have to carry their own oxygen cylinder.

The place where the respected CJI resides is leading the charts in this matter. Why do you not raise questions then? Reports appear in the media every week or ten days, and even those are largely ignored. The CM of Delhi says that sprinkling water is the only option to reduce air pollution because AQI is just like temperature.

The youth are pouring their heart and soul into becoming environmentalists to save this planet. They take to the streets to fight for everyone’s rights so that everyone can have a better life.

Neither does that youth have healthy lungs left nor a proper education system from which they can hope to get a job to become something and serve the nation. And then you call them unemployed.

The post of the CJI is a highly dignified one. Your judgments and your statements during cases are kept as records year after year. Lessons are drawn from them, and future generations read them. If you make such absurd remarks, people will start counting you among politicians who say anything at any time and then keep giving clarifications later.

The youth is now saying: "I am a proud cockroach".

Because we can survive for a month without food, for half a month without water, and for a week without a head.

Since you have made oil, electricity, water, and food expensive; since the air is no longer clean enough to breathe; since jobs are not being provided; and since I have to come to the streets just to get an education.

Yes, I am a proud cockroach who is still surviving.

Yes, I am a cockroach who is raising my voice against this.

Yes, I am a cockroach who possesses the courage to leave everything behind and fight for everyone's rights.