New Delhi: Young Pakistanis have launched local versions of India’s satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), but the Pakistani accounts have gained only modest traction compared with the original.
India’s CJP emerged in mid‑May after outrage over remarks attributed to Chief Justice Surya Kant, in which unemployed young activists were allegedly likened to “cockroaches” and “parasites.”
The comments — later clarified by the CJI — had already provoked an online backlash that fuelled the satire’s rapid growth. The CJP now claims more than 19 million Instagram followers and calls itself “a political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth,” and the “Voice of the Lazy & Unemployed.”
Its mock manifesto proposes measures such as prohibiting retired chief justices from Rajya Sabha nominations, introducing 50 per cent reservation for women in Parliament without expanding the total number of seats, and imposing a 20-year political ban on elected representatives who switch parties.
Pakistani Imitators Quickly Follow Suit
Within days, Instagram and X saw the emergence of Pakistan‑born spin‑offs. Cockroach Awami Party (CAP) candidly credited its inspiration in its bio: “Yeah copied but who cares. Motto is same.”
CAP’s Instagram has around 1,700 followers and says it is “not associated with any single person or any single team,” and wants to be “the real voice of every Gen-Z” in Pakistan. Its logo is inspired by CJP but uses green‑and‑white to set itself apart from parties like PTI, PML‑N and PPP. The account mostly shares memes and short reels and has said it will reveal an official motto on May 28.
Other pages repeat similar lines. @CockroachAP says: “Those whom the system treated as cockroaches, we are the voice of those people.” Cockroach Awami League Pakistan called itself the “official account” of the Cockroach Awami League (CAL) and used the slogan, “We remain alive in every situation.”
Cross-border Satire, Limited Impact
While Pakistani pages replicate CJP’s imagery and slogans, their reach remains limited — a reminder that viral online movements can spread rapidly across borders but resonate differently in each context.
