STEVE CORREA
The recent student-led movement associated with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) echoes a modern parallel to the strategic dynamics of the Kurukṣetra war. What began as outrage over alleged exam paper leaks and fail ures in the education system grew into a broader protest over issues like account ability, employment and trust in institu tions. Students gathered at Jantar Mantar, attempted to march towards Parliament, encountered police barricades, tear gas, baton charges and the movement spread to multiple Indian cities.
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By July 25, Ed ucation Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, and the protesters announced the end of their main agitation. The movement can be understood by analysing the vyuhas (battle formation) of the Mahabharata, which describe strategy as the coordination of purpose, structure, capability, timing, relation ship, and consciousness. A battle formation is based on pur pose rather than just shape. The Ma kara served as a point of strength; the Sucimukha created a narrow opening; the Maṇḍala offered protection from multiple directions. Initially, the student movement resembled a Sucimukha with a clear purpose.
Instead of dispersing frustration across many issues, it zeroed in on a specific demand: holding minis ters accountable for exam failures. This focused approach brought together dif ferent groups around one common ob jective. Modern organisations often reverse this sequence. They begin with commit tees, departments, and reporting lines, then define their purpose. The protest shows that mobilisation is possible when people can answer three key questions: What went wrong? Who is responsible? What specific outcome do we aim for? The movement wasn’t based on a sin gle formal institution. Instead, it operat ed through gatherings, online commu nities, memes, parody, hunger strikes, and city demonstrations. Its structure resembled a networked Maṇḍala rath er than a traditional hierarchy. When certain points faced restrictions, com munication and mobilisation continued elsewhere. This reflects how modern adaptive organisations work, with dis tributed networks being more resilient than centralized systems. Local groups can act independently while remaining connected through a shared purpose. Distributed action requires a clear eth ical and strategic foundation.
Without it, local efforts may conflict, misinforma tion might proliferate, and external polit ical interests could hijack the movement. The main lesson is relational autonomy: supporting local initiatives while ensur ing overall coherence. A vyuha affects the mind initially before engaging the oppo nent. Its scale, discipline, and unified ap pearance communicate confidence. The CJP movement employed satire to create a comparable impact. By adopt ing the “cockroach” label, protesters turned a dismissive term into a symbol of shared identity. Humour, parody, and memes challenged the appearance of ab solute authority, enabling young people to express anger without adhering to tra ditional political language.
Organisations often neglect this symbolic layer—titles, meeting arrangements, office decor, and communication methods influence psy chological perceptions. These factors re veal who holds importance, who is part of the group, and whose voice can be ig nored. Consequently, leadership extends beyond resource allocation to include shaping symbols and meanings that de fine authority. Similar to Kurukṣetra’s armies, the protest movement brought together people from diverse backgrounds, with various ideologies and concerns. Some emphasised examination fairness, while others linked the issue to unemploy ment, student challenges, and broader educational access failures. The move ment’s strength lay in its ability to unite around a shared grievance without re quiring complete ideological alignment from the outset.
Instead, it fostered collaboration based on common goals. Modern organisations can adopt this strategy, recognising that departments like finance, technology, operations, marketing, and human resources do not need to think identically. Alignment focuses on coordinating different skills and functions toward a unified objective, not on uniformity. The Chakravyuha cautions against understanding how to enter a system without knowing how to exit. The CJP has achieved its most visible goal. Its next challenge is no longer mobilisation but transition. How can a protest move ment turn a ministerial resignation into enduring reform? How will it stay alert without becoming permanently reliant on agitation? How can it prevent a broad moral cause from turning into another political entity seeking power? Victo ry itself can become a Chakravyuha. A movement might know how to provoke outrage but struggle to institutionalise reforms. Organisations face similar risks when they launch transformations, reorganise structures, and adopt new technologies without setting clear conditions for con solidation, learning, or exit. Starting such processes without proper integration can lead to burnout.
Movements often feature visible lead ers, which makes them more recognis able but also more vulnerable. Relying on one person for leadership can cause burnout, make the movement suscepti ble to attacks, or lead to collapse if that person becomes unavailable. The story of Abhimanyu teaches us that this is sue goes beyond individual bravery and signals systemic neglect. Organisations should avoid sending brave individu als into resistant systems and leaving them behind and movements should not centralise their knowledge, legitimacy, or power in just a few people. Building leadership capacity, planning for succes sion, and spreading authority are crucial for long-term stability. The core lesson centers on dharma. Reports of police using batons and tear gas on protesters en route to Parliament raise questions about whether their gen uine concerns were addressed before force was used. However, the movement must also evaluate its own actions to prevent peaceful protest from becom ing intimidation, misinformation, or un checked aggression. Even a tactically ef fective action can be adharmic. The true metric is not just success but also the toll it takes on participants.
The CJP protest underscores the im portance of clear communication, decen tralised organization, symbolic vision, and collective bravery. However, its long term significance will depend on wheth er it can transform from a single protest into sustained institutional change. The geometry of mobilisation may win attention. Only dharmic purpose can make that victory worthy. (Steve Correa is a Leadership Coach and OD Consultant, who has had over three decades of corporate experi ence. He is author of, The Indian Boss at Work: Thinking Global Acting Indian.)
