E-Paper
'Cockroach' fear reaches Pakistan, top minister says 'they can overturn everything'
Mohsin Naqvi while talking about the rising anger of the youth, borrowed terminology from arch-rival and neighbour India to warn of ‘cockroach’ uprising.
Battered by a faltering economy and rising debts, Pakistan fears that a youth-led uprising inspired by India's Cockroach party may ‘overturn everything'. This was highlighted in Pakistan interior minister Mohsin Naqvi's recent remarks where he made a big admission of the country's economic failures.
Naqvi highlighted how Pakistan is under heavy debts with no reprieve in sight and also criticised the government, saying it is ‘our duty to fix’ the debt situation.
Naqvi also talked about the rising anger of the youth, and borrowed terminology from arch-rival and neighbour India to warn of ‘cockroach’ uprising. "We are unable to give our youth what they want. You can call them youth or cockroaches or whatever. But if these cockroaches get together, then they can overturn everything."
Also read: 'My father was almost lynched near Jantar Mantar stage': Kin of Delhi cops injured during stir
He also admitted that Pakistan's system has ‘collapsed'. “The system in which we live has collapsed whether you accept it or not. For 70 years, we have been trying to drag this system along,” Naqvi said while addressing a gathering, videos of which were shared by Pakistan news outlets.
"Look at the state of Pakistan's federal budget. We only talk about how much debt we have to take on this year. Our duty is to fix. But we won't. We will take more debt. Our debt is rising every year," Naqvi lamented during a gathering, a video of which surfaced on the social media.
India's Cockroach party stir echoes in Pakistan
His reference to ‘cockroaches’ comes amid student-led protests in India over examination irregularities and paper leaks, following which Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan was forced to step down from his post.
The Parliament also passed an anti-paper leak bill – Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. The protests were led majorly by the Cockroach Janta Party – Indian youth-led satirical political movement and online civic-engagement project led by Abhijeet Dipke. The protests were further highlighted after climate activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk sat on an indefinite hunger strike in support of protesting students.
Also read: Will Pakistan invite PM Modi for SCO Summit next year? What Islamabad said
On social media, India's Gen Z protest found support in Pakistan. India also responded to reports claiming that Gen-Z groups in Pakistan had shown support for the student-led protests in Delhi. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the focus should be on Pakistan ending state-sponsored cross-border terrorism.
“We are all aware that Pakistan has been sponsoring cross-border terrorism against India for several decades,” he said at a press briefing.
“The people of India, including Gen Z, have been demanding that Pakistan end its state-sponsored cross-border terrorism. We hope their counterparts are taking due note.”
