BEGINNING on June 6 in the blistering afternoon heat of Delhi, a series of protests over the education system have been held in cities across India under the banner of the internet-born Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

The protests have drawn modest numbers of a few thousand each time, but they have been attended with enthusiasm by people from all walks of life, and ages too. Among the honorary cockroaches was Sonam Wangchuk, the respected climate activist who found in the CJP a “creative and peaceful expression of youth unhappiness”.