Over the past few days, Pakistani social media platforms have seen the emergence of pages such as “Cockroach Awami Party”, “Cockroach Awami League” and “Muttahida Cockroach Movement”, mirroring the branding and tone of the Indian satirical collective that exploded online after its launch on May 16.
Pakistan’s cockroach clones gain traction online
Several Pakistani versions of the movement are positioning themselves as voices of frustrated youth and politically alienated citizens.
One page describes itself as “a political front of the youth, by the youth, for Pakistan”, while another declares in its bio: “Jinhein system ne cockroach samjha, hum unhi awaam ki awaaz hain” — loosely translated as, “We are the voice of those people whom the system treated like cockroaches.”
The accounts closely resemble the Indian Cockroach Janta Party’s visual identity, though many use Pakistan’s green-and-white colour palette to establish a local political flavour.
The satirical branding also appears aimed at mocking or distinguishing itself from Pakistan’s mainstream political parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party.
India’s Cockroach Janta Party went viral in days
India’s Cockroach Janta Party has amassed massive attention online, reportedly crossing 20 million Instagram followers within a week.
The movement was founded by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old Indian student at Boston University who previously worked with Aam Aadmi Party as a political communications strategist.
Unlike the Indian version, however, the Pakistani offshoots appear far more decentralised, with different creators independently launching their own versions of the “cockroach” identity.
Origin linked to Supreme Court remark
The movement traces its roots to remarks made during a hearing in the Supreme Court of India by Chief Justice Surya Kant, who compared certain unemployed youth and activists to “cockroaches” and “parasites”.
“There are youngsters like cockroaches, they don't get any employment, they don't have any place in profession,” Justice Kant had said during the hearing.
He later clarified that the remark was aimed at people allegedly entering professions using fake degrees.
The statement quickly triggered online satire, memes and political commentary, eventually evolving into the now-viral Cockroach Janta Party movement across social media platforms.