The much-hyped “Gen Z movement” built around social-media theatrics has suffered a potentially devastating credibility blow. The arrest of nine persons, including four juveniles, by the Punjab Police in connection with two alleged ISI-backed cross-border terror modules raises questions that the self-proclaimed champions of a so-called youth uprising cannot simply wish away. The police have alleged that Pakistan-based handlers were recruiting local youngsters, arranging weapons, conducting surveillance and attempting to disturb public order. More disturbing is the allegation that one module was tasked with creating violence at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar during the protests associated with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
This is not merely another political controversy. It goes to the heart of Bharat’s internal security.
According to the Punjab Police, three illegal pistols, nine live cartridges and four petrol bombs were recovered. Investigators have alleged that the accused were in contact with foreign-based handlers and that the Jantar Mantar operation was abandoned because of heavy security. Police have also alleged surveillance of security installations and recruitment of youngsters into the network. These are grave allegations, and the ongoing investigation must establish the complete chain of command, funding, communication and operational links.
But the larger question cannot be evaded: how convenient would it have been for an externally sponsored terror module to infiltrate a politically charged street mobilisation, manufacture violence and then leave the country with another carefully crafted narrative of “Gen Z rising against the Modi government”?
That is precisely why the security agencies must follow the evidence wherever it leads.
Political opposition is legitimate. Peaceful protest is legitimate. Criticism of the government is legitimate. But nobody has the right to convert legitimate democratic dissent into a launchpad for violence, foreign interference or an attempt to destabilise Bharat. Nor can social media branding magically convert a political campaign into a spontaneous national uprising.
The CJP episode should therefore be viewed through a wider security lens. Pakistan’s proxy-war machinery has repeatedly attempted to exploit social, political and communal fault lines. The new battlefield is no longer confined to borders. It includes encrypted communications, social-media manipulation, radicalisation of vulnerable youngsters, surveillance networks, financial trails and the deliberate creation of public disorder.
The disturbing involvement of juveniles, if established in court, is particularly chilling. It indicates how easily impressionable youngsters can become expendable pawns in a larger design. The state cannot afford to treat such recruitment merely as another law-and-order problem.
This is where the Narendra Modi government’s security architecture deserves scrutiny but also recognition. Intelligence-led disruption, inter-agency coordination and rapid investigation are precisely what prevent conspiracies from becoming catastrophes. The role of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the intelligence and security establishment has often been criticised by political opponents, but the real test of any security apparatus is whether it can identify a threat before blood is spilled.
And that test must remain uncompromising.
At the same time, the government must resist the temptation to politicise an investigation. The arrests are the beginning of the process, not the end. Every accused must face due process, every allegation must be proved through evidence and every foreign link must be established through investigation. But if the alleged ISI connection survives scrutiny, then those who knowingly provided political cover, logistical assistance or ideological space to such a network must face the full force of law.
The lesson is brutally simple: Bharat’s democracy cannot become a playground for foreign intelligence agencies.
Those who manufacture artificial revolutions on social media should remember that the Republic is bigger than their hashtags. And those sitting across the border dreaming of destabilising Bharat should understand something even more important—the country’s security establishment is watching.
The “Cockroach” may have arrived noisily on social media. If the allegations now emerging are established, the real question is not who created the noise, but who was hiding in the drains behind it.
