How India’s Gen Z movement of 'Cockroaches' dented Modi's political image

NEW DELHI (AP) — For weeks, India's young protesters waved signs mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government and rallied under an unlikely name: the Cockroach Janta Party. They secured a concession few have extracted from Modi during his more than 12 years in power: a cabinet minister's resignation.

Modi has been one of India’s most dominant prime ministers in decades, winning elections while cultivating an image of decisive leadership. His government has rarely been seen to yield to public pressure.

The resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month, however, was a notable exception, experts say. Pressured by the “Cockroach” movement, the concession underscored the rising political influence of India’s population younger than 25, who make up nearly half the country, and a shift toward digital-first organizing.

“This particular round has ended in a very important defeat for Mr. Modi,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a political analyst who wrote a Modi biography.

Mukhopadhyay said the minister’s resignation has made people less fearful of protesting against a government that critics have long accused of suppressing dissent.

“The threshold of fear has been broken. People are no longer scared to go and step out and protest,” he said.

The protests began as a satirical movement in May with a single demand: the education minister’s resignation over leaks of exam papers that can determine a young person's fate.

But as protests spread, driven by young, urban Indians who mobilized online and on the streets, they evolved into a broader call for accountability, tapping into frustration over youth unemployment, government transparency and the handling of public institutions.

Mukhopadhyay said it was the first time student-led protests had sustained enough momentum to force the government to concede their central demand without the backing of established political parties.

“Each one had their own little grievance about life not taking them anywhere,” he said.

It is uncertain whether that energy can be converted into votes against Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Saurav Das, a spokesperson for the Cockroach Janta Party, said the movement reaffirmed the power of public pressure in a democracy.

“An arrogant government which did not blink for 12 years was forced to blink when the youth united,” he said, reiterating that the group wants to remain a public watchdog rather than become a political party.

“We want to remain a pressure group,” he said.

The movement appears to have prompted adjustments inside Modi’s party.

In the weeks since the protests, Modi has increasingly appeared in short, vertical videos tailored for Instagram and other platforms popular with young voters.

His party has expanded its outreach to Gen Z through online campaigns, with some party lawmakers adopting youth slang in public appearances, including speeches in Parliament. Many of India's cabinet members are 60 or older.

It marks a shift from the protests' early days, when Modi and his government largely dismissed the movement as insignificant. But as demonstrations attracted larger crowds, the government was forced to acknowledge them and respond to their growing influence.

Since the education minister's resignation, Modi has also spoken of forgiving those who had mocked the prime minister, an apparent effort to reconnect with younger audiences.

Mukhopadhyay said the movement’s biggest impact was challenging the perception of Modi as a leader largely insulated from public pressure.

“That image of Mr. Modi is heavily tarnished,” he said.

Some Modi supporters have doubled down, however, with online activists aligned to Modi’s party seeking to identify protesters and share their personal details online to intimidate them.

Solidarity protests were held in several other cities, while supporters sent food and supplies to demonstrators camped in New Delhi and engaged in hunger strikes.

Opposition leaders, rights activists and some Bollywood celebrities publicly backed the movement, helping amplify its message beyond the protest sites.

For Neha Bora, a student leader who took part in a hunger strike in New Delhi, the movement showed that ordinary citizens could still hold those in power to account.

“If they (ministers) do not serve the people of this country, no matter what cabinet minister they are, they will be brought down from their seats,” she said.

Associated Press journalists Rishi Lekhi and Piyush Nagpal in New Delhi contributed to this report.

FILE- Protesters celebrate after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following nationwide protests as part of the Cockroach Janta Party's protest movement in Mumbai, India, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

FILE- A participant wearing a cockroach mask attends a protest as part of a youth-led campaign demanding educational reforms in Bengaluru, India, Monday, July 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

FILE- A protestor holds a placard with a portrait of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi draped in a saree, a traditional garment for women in India, during a demonstration demanding educational reforms as part of the Cockroach Janta Party's ongoing protest movement in New Delhi, India, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Verda Subzwari, File)

FILE- A protester holds a placard after India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following nationwide protests as part of the Cockroach Janta Party's protest movement in Mumbai, India, Saturday, July 25, 2026 (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

FILE- Protesters raise slogans during a demonstration demanding educational reforms as part of the Cockroach Janta Party's ongoing protest movement in New Delhi, India, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vipin, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A man from Spokane, Washington, was arrested Monday and charged with setting one of the devastating wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and other structures in and around the state’s second-largest city.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, was arrested and booked on suspicion of first degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, the largest of three blazes burning around Spokane.

Together, the fires have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced some 67,000 people to evacuate. Authorities haven't stated a possible cause for the other two fires.

A tip from a community member who saw a nervous-looking man bent by the side of the road near some grass initially led authorities to Farinacci, though they released him after initial questioning, Sheriff John Nowels said Monday night.

Later, when major crimes detectives started investigating using body worn cameras and reports, they again identified Farinacci and determined that the fire had started where the witness had seen him, Nowels said. Farinacci had matches and a butane lighter when he was detained, Nowels said.

“As it happens in so many critical cases, it was citizens who were paying attention to their surroundings, being aware and willing to step up and say something that led to the relatively quick apprehension of Mr. Farinacci,” he said.

Farinacci’s first court appearance will be Tuesday, according to Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. He has been convicted of felony manslaughter in Arizona.

The Old Trails Fire sparked Saturday northwest of downtown Spokane, eventually jumping over the Spokane River and ripping through neighborhoods.

Earlier Monday, some residents returned to find their homes leveled by wildfires that erupted across a parched landscape over the weekend, covering yards in charred debris. In some cases, only chimneys were left standing.

“There’s nothing to save,” Miriam Sim, 76, said Monday as she and her husband, Daniel Sim, surveyed the ruins of the home where they had lived since 2005.

“At our age, do we want to rebuild?” her husband asked.

Together, the three fires burned about 12.5 square miles (about 32 square kilometers) by Monday. The sky filled with smoke and haze. Calmer winds and lower temperatures arrived to help firefighters, but it was expected to be hot and dry again by midweek.

In one Spokane neighborhood, blackened vehicles, a boat twisted by the heat and melted plastic recycling bins remained. Across the street, lawns were still green and houses were spared, as residents continued to run hoses or sprinklers to water their properties.

“Hundreds of people have completely lost their homes and farms, and many are prohibited from returning to their homes or neighborhoods as crews continue to extinguish smoldering embers,” the state's entire congressional delegation wrote Monday in asking President Donald Trump to approve an expedited emergency declaration.

Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesperson for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, said the county initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people, but by Monday they had cleared all but 14.

Those outstanding reports more likely represented people who had not been in contact since evacuating than people who were truly missing or in danger, authorities said.

The Spokane-area wildfires were completely uncontained, fire officials said. More than 1,000 firefighters, many from out of state, had arrived by Monday, and that number was expected to double in the next few days.

The fires were among dozens across the Western U.S. stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. At least 390 square miles (1,000 square kilometers) has burned across Washington, which has contended with severe drought and a paltry snowpack.

Authorities warned people not to fly drones near the burned areas, saying it could force them to delay aerial firefighting operations.

Angela and Wayde Deatherage, both 49, evacuated shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday with a son, grabbing a few bins of family photos and heirloom rings but not much else. Roughly 30 minutes later, their security camera was sending fire notifications to Angela’s phone.

Wayde Deatherage took some back roads and returned by early evening. He stopped at the end of the street and called his wife: “Our house is done.”

Deatherage, however, wasn't done with his neighborhood. He propped a hose at another house so it sprayed the property. That home survived.

The couple returned to their property Sunday.

“It’s just ash,” Angela Deatherage said of the home where they had lived for nearly 22 years. ”It’s like our house sunk down in the basement. ... There’s just so much loss for so many people.”

Karen Faggioli, 61, figured she would be returning to her home. She recalled how other recent fires had been brought under control. But a relative texted her the bad news: Her house and three vehicles were destroyed. A daughter lost her nearby house, too.

“Why cry? What’s crying going to do? I’ve been through so many tragedies myself,” said Faggioli, who is recovering from breast cancer. “This is nothing. Like I told my granddaughter, ‘We’re strong — and now we get all new things.’ I’m emotionally numb.”

Johnson reported from Seattle, and White from Detroit. Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Spokane; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H.; and Martha Bellisle and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Trees burned by a wildfire stand near destroyed structures in the Indian trail neighborhood, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)

Miriam Sim, 76, reacts as she walks through the burned remains of her neighborhood after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash., Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Daniel Sim, 76, views the remains of his destroyed house after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash., Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Miriam Sim, 76, reacts while talking about her neighborhood largely burning to the ground after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash., Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A worker with Avista moves through a property after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash., Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)