The anatomy of a GenZ protest

By Bhupendra Chaubey · July 25, 2026

The Unlikely Revolutionaries: From Apple Stores to the Streets

Last whole week has gone by in people trying to understand exactly what the hell just happened. I mean the older lot that is. Including me. Here we were till about a few months back. Looking at what was happening in Nepal. What had earlier happened in Dhaka or Sri Lanka. When GenZ of these countries hit the streets. Questions were raised about who was funding the rioters who called themselves revolutionaries. The consensus was that it was the deep state of the west which was behind each of these “revolutions”.

Back home in India, the headline was that Gen Z was lining up outside newly opened Apple Stores to lay their hands on the latest IPhones. They were ridiculed that they were more interested in the brands they wore and the devices they used rather than engaging with the cut and thrust of a complicated political discourse on democracy. And yet, here we are. The young, or shall we call them cockroaches, have indeed bared their fangs. The cockroach junta party and Abhijeet dipke are no Anna Hazare-Arvind Kejriwal combo. Yet, they have become the engine or the valve for an entire range of young and restless to come out and express themselves in a manner only they can.

The Jantar Mantar Experience: A New Paradigm of Engagement

I myself spent some time at jantar mantar. Spoke to a whole range of voices. Looked at the banners. Some outstandingly creative and some downright abusive. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not preachy uncle. Hell, I see myself too on the side of the youth. I don’t like a lot of what many of my contemporaries are doing on tv news screens. I also feel that the young need a new engagement paradigm. They need to be spoken to in a lingo they are comfortable with. Just look at the entire range of creativity / memes / songs that have come out of these protests. I am sure some film maker somewhere already is busy recording everything that’s going on here.

The Genesis: A Government Disconnected from its Youth

But that’s moving away from my fundamental question. How has this protest come about? Well first it came about because of total lack of understanding from the government. Perhaps the higher ups of the establishment were so busy breaking away every conceivable party opposed to the BJP, that they forgot the youth were a constituency too. And that they were watching. Seeing, absorbing and wanting to explode. And finally they did.

The Backlash: When the "Anti-National" Label Fails

Secondly, the initial response of the government to the protest was the same as it’s been in the past. Dub everyone as anti national. Now this wasn’t a protest happening outside Ganga Dhaba at much maligned JNU. This wasn’t a kanhaiya kumar with his dafli screaming “ Awaaz do hum ek hain “ / “hum le ke rahenge azaadi “. This was convent educated, english speaking, engineering graduates. This was a lot that was being backed by their parents as well.

So the moment the New Delhi police commissioner ordered the baton treatment to these “marauders“, all hell had broken lose. The same middle class parents who were supporters of Modi all through were now being questioned by their children in terms of why were they supporting BJP? Dinner table conversations got divorced from daily dose of religiosity and nationalism that have become the staple diet of what’s app family groups. Suddenly the shoe was on the other foot. Suddenly, the answering had to be done by the parents.

The Tipping Point: Exam Leaks, Apathy, and Alternate Role Models

Third, this was coming a long time. As television news reduced itself to a joke over the last decade, those who were born towards the beginning of UPA2 era, who started seeing the world through the eyes of PM Modi in 2014 promising achche din, were left high and dry looking at the scam around their marks on class 12 or leakage of NEET exam papers.

The climax for this lot perhaps is coming now as the likes of finance minister Nirmala Seetaraman are making a bid for the biggest guffaw of the year. In her eyes, the NEET exam being postponed should also be looked at as an opportunity for many to score better, prepare more! It’s this kind of bunkhum logic that has pushed GenZ away from wire agency fed narrative building. Their knowledge seekers are all those who are challenging the establishment. Their role models are the likes of a Dhruv Rathee, a desh bhakt or many unknown instagrammers giving crisp explanations of events unfolding around them. To dub this lot as anti national, fed by soros camp is devoid of any logic.

The Reality of Support: Grassroots Funding and the Way Forward

Fourth, who is funding these protests. Well it’s not the Khalistanis stupid. It’s many commoners. Like you and me. People who are identifying with the cause. Who perhaps want to come to juntar mantas but can’t make it for several reasons.

Don’t ridicule the youth. Don’t indulge in name calling for GenZ. Offer a dialogue. Offer hope. Else this battle may well turn out to be a very long one.