The ongoing protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar has drawn widespread attention, with demonstrators using satire, memes and provocative slogans to voice their dissent.
The protest also triggered a political debate in Madhya Pradesh after a group of students wore T-shirts bearing the slogan: “Na Mardon Ke Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Se Bhi Aaye Hain Mard.”
Videos of YouTubers interviewing the students quickly went viral on social media, bringing renewed attention to issues ranging from the Patwari recruitment controversy to the Bhagirathpura contaminated water tragedy and the Chhindwara cough syrup deaths.
What exactly happened? What was the purpose behind the controversial slogan? Was it an insult to the state? Here’s an explainer in the original question-and-answer format.
Question 1: How did the ‘Namardon Ke Pradesh’ T-shirt go viral?
Answer: The controversy began at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
Students from across the country protesting against alleged paper leaks in NEET-UG and UGC-NET examinations gathered under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) as part of the Parliament Chalo campaign. Some students from Madhya Pradesh also joined the protest wearing the controversial T-shirts.
Videos of YouTubers interviewing them quickly went viral on social media.
During the interviews, the students listed several issues in quick succession. They referred to the Bhagirathpura contaminated drinking water tragedy, in which several people died after allegedly consuming polluted water. They also mentioned the proposed Khajrana Civil Hospital, which they claimed had existed only on paper for years despite staff appointments, and the Chhindwara cough syrup tragedy, in which several children died after allegedly consuming contaminated cough syrup.
Question 2: Was the slogan an insult to Madhya Pradesh?
Answer: According to Pawan Ahirwar, one of the students who wore the T-shirt, the slogan was not intended to insult the state, but to criticise what he described as the silence of Madhya Pradesh’s youth.
Pawan said that in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, students take to the streets even over minor irregularities in examinations, forcing governments to reconsider decisions. In contrast, he argued, despite major controversies such as the Vyapam scam and the Patwari recruitment controversy, students in Madhya Pradesh have largely remained silent.
He said the word “Namard” was not meant to demean anyone, but rather to provoke young people into standing up for their rights.
Political analyst Rashid Kidwai said slogans such as “Inquilab Zindabad”, if interpreted literally, could also appear to advocate violent revolution, although that was never their intended meaning. He argued that political parties have long used provocative language in public discourse.
According to Kidwai, when senior political leaders themselves frequently use offensive language against each other, criticising students over a T-shirt slogan appears misplaced.
Youth were seen wearing controversial T-shirts in the protest of the Cockroach Janata Party.
Question 3: Why was the Patwari recruitment controversy mentioned during a NEET protest?
Answer: The students said they had already been participating in protests in Indore against the alleged NEET and NET paper leaks.
According to them, examination irregularities were not limited to national-level entrance tests, but had also occurred in Madhya Pradesh’s recruitment examinations. That is why they referred to the widely discussed Patwari recruitment controversy, arguing that alleged manipulation of examinations had become a recurring pattern affecting students’ futures.
The Madhya Pradesh Employees Selection Board (MPESB) conducted the Patwari recruitment examination in March-April 2023, with results declared on June 30, 2023.
Soon afterwards, allegations of irregularities surfaced. Seven of the top ten candidates in the merit list had reportedly appeared from the same examination centre in Gwalior, a college owned by a then-BJP MLA.
Some toppers were unable to answer basic questions before the media, including the number of districts in Madhya Pradesh, while several candidates reportedly scored full marks in English despite signing only in Hindi.
In Morena district, 23 selected candidates sharing the same surname (“Tyagi”) were selected, several of them reportedly under the disability quota. The opposition described the controversy as “Vyapam 2.0.”
Amid mounting pressure, the Shivraj Singh Chauhan government suspended appointments on July 19, 2023, and ordered an inquiry.
After the change of government in December 2023, the Mohan Yadav government cleared the appointments in February 2024, citing a clean chit from the inquiry commission.
However, student organisations continue to demand that the inquiry report be made public and that an independent investigation be conducted.
Question 4: Why were Indore’s Bhagirathpura and Chhindwara’s cough syrup tragedies brought up?
Answer: The protesting students said they did not want to restrict the discussion to paper leaks alone.
Instead, they cited other recent incidents to portray what they described as a broader pattern of administrative negligence, arguing that repeated failures affecting public safety rarely result in accountability.
36 deaths in Indore’s Bhagirathpura
The students referred to the Bhagirathpura contaminated water tragedy, in which 36 people allegedly died after consuming contaminated drinking water in December last year.
According to them, 35 bodies were cremated without post-mortem examinations, while the only post-mortem reportedly left the cause of death blank.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court later constituted an inquiry committee headed by retired Justice Sushil Gupta, but the students claimed that the report is still awaited and demanded a fast-track investigation.
26 children die in Chhindwara cough syrup tragedy
The protesters also referred to the Coldrif cough syrup tragedy in Chhindwara, in which 26 children allegedly died.
Following public pressure, police arrested company owner S. Ranganathan, but the students argued that government officials responsible for monitoring the medicine should also face murder charges if negligence is established.
Political analyst Rashid Kidwai said the deaths caused by contaminated water and allegedly toxic cough syrup were deeply disturbing, but argued that governmental accountability has steadily weakened.
The youth who arrived at the protest raised questions about the scams and recent issues in the state.
Question 5: What is the story behind the “paper hospital” mentioned by the protesters?
Answer: Apart from the two tragedies, the students also referred to the proposed 100-bed Civil Hospital in Khajrana, Indore, which they claimed has existed only on paper.
The hospital was announced around six years ago, but construction has yet to begin because the government has reportedly not obtained possession of the required land.
Interestingly, despite the hospital building not existing, 87 posts have already been sanctioned, and nearly 80 doctors, nurses and paramedical staff appointed against those positions are currently working at PC Sethi Hospital, Hukumchand Hospital and various Sanjeevani Clinics.
The government says the project was part of a plan to upgrade an existing Urban Primary Health Centre, but construction could not begin because land was unavailable.
Former Congress minister Sajjan Singh Verma has described the matter as an example of administrative negligence and demanded a high-level inquiry.
Many posts appeared on social media showing youths wearing T-shirts with controversial slogans.
Question 6: Was wearing the controversial slogan T-shirt merely a publicity stunt?
Answer: Pawan Ahirwar denied that the campaign was a publicity stunt.
He said he had participated in several public protests in Indore over issues ranging from alleged negligence at MY Hospital, the stepwell collapse, student scholarship issues and increases in bus pass charges.
Political analyst Ravi Thakur argued that there was no need to raise issues such as Bhagirathpura or the cough syrup tragedy during a protest focused on NEET, suggesting that the move was deliberately designed to attract media attention and generate controversy rather than contribute to the debate.
Rashid Kidwai said that in the age of social media, there are no longer fixed conventions governing protests, and provocative slogans have become a common strategy for attracting attention.
However, he added that he does not hold the students solely responsible.
According to Kidwai, values are shaped by political leadership, and when senior leaders themselves increasingly resort to offensive language against one another, expecting restraint from young protesters becomes difficult.
