The so-called “Cockroach” protests that erupted in India this past July grew quickly, gathering around them a number of different activist groups and individuals from various walks of life. These protests were met with tremendous state repression and censorship. Today we speak with Raaz and Sarthak, two student activists and organizers from Delhi, about the broad background to the struggles for education and a decent life, and how the fight has grown to encompass broad sectors of Indian society. Despite the attempts of the State and mainstream media to disappear these protests from the global mediascape, we learn how and why the protests and organizing has continued unabated, and what some of the key goals are. Along with Raaz and Sarthak, we are joined once more by Suchitra Vijayan, director of the Polis Project and seasoned activist and journalist, who was also there as the protests unfolded.
Raaz is a writer-researcher and independent journalist, currently pursuing their LL.B. from Delhi University, India. They are curious about different experiments in anti-fascist resistance, with a special interest in stories of criminalisation, gender, and people's movements. They are currently working with a small team to build a youtube studio / production house, @Krantikhana. They enjoy lofi music, indie animations, and Junji Ito novels.
Sarthak is a non-binary filmmaker and journalist from Jamshedpur India. They seek experiential storytelling that is influenced by and derived from our zeitgeist. Their debut feature and core body of work lies at the locus of resistance, art, caste and language creation from the margins. Centering people and their politics, they aspire to re-discover fluidity in meaningful storytelling. They are currently working in an independent news organisation while building their own production house, @krantikhana.
Suchitra Vijayan is an author, photographer, curator, and barrister. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Midnight’s Borders: A People’s History of Modern India and How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of India’s Political Prisoners. A 2023 New York Foundation for the Arts Nonfiction Fellow. She is the founder and executive director of The Polis Project, a New York-based global magazine of dissent.
She is the Chair of the International Human Rights Committee at the New York City Bar and teaches at New York University and Columbia University. She previously worked with the UN War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, co-founded the Settlement Legal Aid Project for Iraqi refugees in Cairo.
