Tharoor said that such movements serve like the valves on a pressure cooker, letting off steam. “If the valves were closed, the cooker would explode under the pressure.”
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor (File Photo: ANI)
After the X account of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) was banned in India in response to a legal demand by the Government of India, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday said that “suppressing it is foolish in a democracy.”
“Democracy’s great virtue is the outlets it provides for public sentiment, frustration and grievances. Letting these be aired on a satirical site is in the national interest,” Tharoor wrote in a lengthy X post.
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The Congress leader further stated that regardless of the motivations of CJP’s founders, “they have tapped into an important strain of national sentiment among our youth.”
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He urged both the Government and the Opposition to listen and tackle the underlying discontent, warning that “suppressing it would be disastrous.”
He argued that such movements serve like the valves on a pressure cooker, letting off steam. “If the valves were closed, the cooker would explode under the pressure.”
He said he would prefer satire to chaos, anarchy or revolution.
“I also feel it is our job to identify and deliver solutions to the problems of Young India. Let’s lift the ban and tune in!” he added.
Founded by Abhijeet Dipke, the Cockroach Janata Party was thrust into the spotlight after controversial remarks by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Surya Kant. During a recent hearing, the CJI said that unemployed youth who criticise the system are like “cockroaches and parasites”.
He later clarified that his remarks were misquoted by a section of the media and that he orally criticised those entering media and other professions after acquiring fake degrees.
However, the CJP turned into an overnight social media sensation, garnering over two crore followers on Instagram, more than double the followers of the BJP on the same platform.
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