Indian celebrities fiercely criticised for silence on Cockroach protests

Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration demanding educational reforms as part of the Cockroach Janata party's ongoing protest movement in Mumbai, India on Thursday. Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/AP View image in fullscreen Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration demanding educational reforms as part of the Cockroach Janata party's ongoing protest movement in Mumbai, India on Thursday. Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/AP Indian celebrities fiercely criticised for silence on Cockroach protests Stars accused of ‘cowardice’ as hundreds of thousands of young Indians take to the streets to challenge government Bollywood stars and other Indian celebrities have faced fierce criticism this week for staying silent in the face of some of the biggest protests India has seen in years. Hundreds of thousands of young Indians took to the streets this week as part of a new youth movement that calls itself the Cockroach Janata party (CJP), demanding accountability over exam paper leaks in an unprecedented challenge to prime minister Narendra Modi’s government. Many vented their anger against what they saw as “cowardice” from India’s biggest celebrities. “We are the ones who made them famous and wealthy by turning up and paying for their films and matches,” said Vijay Rai, 24, who travelled more than 2,000km from Chennai in south India to the site. “Now when it’s our turn for a little help, we get nothing.” CJP organisers and protesters have been sleeping on the ground, enduring scorching sunshine, monsoon downpours and the misery of sweltering humidity since they began their indefinite sit-in protest on 20 June in the capital. The mass demonstrations have led to the resignation of the education minister , Dharmendra Prasad – a central demand from the CJP over a paper leak in May that forced 2 million students to resit an important exam and led to more than a dozen student suicides. In the 12 years the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has been in power, it was the first time one of Modi’s most loyal ministers has been forced into resigning due to public pressure. On Monday, the mass peaceful student protest was met with police brutality, including the use of batons, teargas and, allegedly, pellet guns. Protesters were scathing about how celebrities had commented on global tragedies or injustices but turned a blind eye to the grievances of people at home, even when their most devoted fanbase were being baton-charged and teargassed by the police. “Just a few words on social media to express their moral support for our demands would have been welcome,” said Seema, who works cleaning homes in Delhi. In recent years, Bollywood, which was once seen to be outside politics, is widely believed to have been co-opted by the far-right politics of Narendra Modi, leading to a surge of hyper-nationalist films accused of promoting the political agenda of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government. Many of Bollywood’s biggest stars are Muslims, and are seen to have to trea