New Delhi, Oct. 8 -- On May 15, 2026, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, speaking from the bench of the Supreme Court, likened unemployed young Indians to cockroaches, saying that, unable to find work, they turn to social media, journalism and RTI activism to "attack the system" and calling them "parasites of society."

These were not remarks made by a politician at a campaign rally or a television anchor in a prime-time outburst, to say the least. These words were on the record, spoken by the occupant of the highest judicial office in India, though the CJI clarified that the statement had been misrepresented and misinterpreted.

However, cockroach, to everyone's astonishment, snowballed into something unexpected. The spiny, long-legged i...