'Azadi' slogans at CJP protest; Read how 'Azadi' is a separatist war cry and was first issued by Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto

Notably, these cries have their roots in Pakistan, back in the 1990s when the Kashmiri Hindu Pandits were facing exodus at the hands of Islamist terrorists in the Kashmir Valley. The "Hum kya chahte, Azadi" (We want freedom) chant was born in the streets of Srinagar in the early 1990s and went on to become a veritable anthem for the separatist movement in the region. It originated from the ideology of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), the terrorist organisation that first promoted the slogan.

"Azadi", trauma of Kashmiri Pandits



For a Kashmiri Pandit in 1990, the "Azadi" slogan became a weapon for the brutalisation of minority Hindus. Author and journalist Rahul Pandita, in his memoir Our Moon has Blood Clots, describes the visceral horror of hearing those chants, the loud clapping, the jeering, the crescendo of loudspeakers. There is no doubt that for anyone who survived the systematic violence against Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s, the cries of "Azadi" carry terrible memories.

JNU 2016, the first big controversy


Later, the Indian Congress party was seen allegedly supporting these 'students' and also offering them a party ticket during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Anti-CAA protests and JNU in 2019

The earlier episode concluded only to get a new life during the anti-CAA protests that started in December 2019. When hundreds of women gathered in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, streets reverberated with the chants. From Delhi to Lucknow, Pune, and Hyderabad, the slogan of 'Azadi' became a central feature of the protests.



UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath then warned anti-CAA protesters that raising "Azadi" slogans, the same ones raised in Kashmir, would amount to treason and attract strict punishment under law.



The "Azadi" cry has a clear documented genealogy, from Pakistan-backed separatism in 1989-90, amplified by Benazir Bhutto during the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits, institutionalised as a separatist war cry in the Valley, and then transplanted into Indian university campuses, first at JNU in 2016, then more widely during anti-CAA protests in 2019-20.

And now the same cries are heard in the Cockroach Janata Party protest. The CJP has long been demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging mismanagement in the education sector. The party founder, Abhijeet Dipke, closely associated with the AAP, also claimed that the youth power was enough to get the government on its knees. Notably, it was reported earlier that Dipke had supported separatists in Jammu and Kashmir during the abrogation of Article 370. It was also reported how the leftist mass movement attracted more than 49% of Pakistani supporters.

India’s democratic framework allows citizens to form associations, movements, and political organisations, as long as they function within the constitutional boundaries of the Republic. The so-called Cockroach Janata Party may present itself as a people’s movement or an anti-establishment campaign, but several aspects of its rhetoric and conduct raise serious constitutional and ethical concerns. Even if the group eventually seeks formal political recognition, its ideology and methods would struggle to align with the spirit and values of the Indian Constitution.