Sonam Wangchuk, Cockroach Janta Party and the politics of paranoia

In the span of a year, Sonam Wangchuk has gone from being branded a Chinese sympathiser to being accused of serving the Indian establishment. Such contradictions expose the absurdity of political paranoia.Sonam Wangchuk has become one of the prominent faces demanding accountability from the government over the NEET controversy. Conspiracy theories have always thrived in the power corridors of Delhi. But in today’s hyper-polarised India, they have become more than just idle gossip. They are now political weapons, deployed to delegitimise opponents, discredit protests and avoid engaging with uncomfortable questions.The latest targets are Sonam Wangchuk and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), two of the most visible faces associated with the student protests that have shaken the national capital. Instead of asking why thousands of young Indians are angry over paper leaks, delayed examinations and shrinking job opportunities, sections of the political establishment appear more interested in questioning the motives of those leading the protests.According to one widely circulated theory amongst Congress groups, Wangchuk and the CJP are somehow part of the Modi government’s “deep state”, planted to prevent the Congress from receiving political credit for taking the lead in raking up the NEET exam mess. The evidence for such an extraordinary claim is almost non-existent. But in an age where suspicion travels faster than facts, conspiracy theories quickly acquire a life of their own.Take the curious case of Sonam Wangchuk. Less than a year ago, as the movement for greater autonomy in Ladakh gathered momentum and briefly turned violent, Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act. He spent six months in jail before being released without any convincing explanation as to why he had been incarcerated in the first place. During those months, sections of the BJP’s online ecosystem portrayed him as a foreign-funded, “anti-national”, even a “pro-China agent”, selectively editing his speeches to fit a convenient political narrative. Now, remarkably, the very same individual is being described by some Congress voices as an Intelligence Bureau puppet, allegedly planted to divert attention from Rahul Gandhi and the Congress’s own campaign against the Modi government. How does someone go from being branded a Chinese sympathiser to being accused of serving the Indian establishment? Such contradictions expose the absurdity of political paranoia.Allow me a personal observation. I have known Sonam Wangchuk for nearly two decades. I first met him in 2008 when CNN-IBN honoured him as a “Real Hero” for his pioneering work in education and environmental conservation. In the audience that evening sat Aamir Khan, who would later star in Three Idiots, a super-hit film many believed drew inspiration from Wangchuk’s life, even though the filmmakers have denied any direct connection. Over the years, I have watched Wangchuk dedicate himself to education, sustainable development and the future of Ladakh. Whether one agrees with every position he takes is beside the point. Democracies are built precisely on the acceptance that disagreement does not amount to disloyalty.Which raises an uncomfortable question: How does a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner once celebrated across the political spectrum suddenly become, depending on who is speaking, either a traitor or a government agent?The irony becomes even sharper when one remembers that the Modi government itself had publicly praised Wangchuk’s work on more than one occasion. In March 2023, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan posted a picture on X after meeting Wangchuk and his wife, appreciating their efforts to transform education through innovation, experiential learning and sustainable development.Three years later, after Wangchuk has become one of the prominent faces demanding accountability over the NEET controversy and questioning the government’s handling of education, the admiration has vanished. Instead, suspicion has replaced engagement.There is another telling episode. The Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council had initially approved the lease of more than 1,000 kanals of land for Wangchuk’s Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), an ambitious project devoted to sustainable Himalayan development. Last August, the lease was cancelled, officially over procedural delays. Few in Ladakh doubt that Wangchuk’s growing role in the autonomy movement had become politically inconvenient and his institution was selectively targeted.That, ultimately, is what happens when dissent is viewed not as democratic participation but as an act of hostility. Those who question authority become targets for intimidation or character assassination. This has been a standard playbook for the Modi government: from political opponents to journalists, academics, civil society activists, few have been spared the wrath of unbridled state power.Yet the Congress appears trapped in its own insecurities. Instead of embracing a movement whose central demands broadly echo its own criticism of the government’s education record, sections of the party seem determined to view every independent protest through the lens of political conspiracy.The Cockroach Janta Party illustrates this mindset perfectly. For months, the Modi government dismissed the CJP as little more than an internet curiosity. Only after student protests spilled onto the streets this week did it even begin acknowledging their existence. The Congress, meanwhile, has convinced itself that the CJP is little more than an Aam Aadmi Party proxy because its founder, Abhijit Dipke, once had links with AAP.The anxiety is understandable. The Congress still carries the scars of 2011, when the Anna Hazare movement, supported quietly by the BJP, eventually paved the way for the rise of AAP and accelerated the decline of the UPA government.History casts a long shadow. But history should not become a prison.Why should the principal opposition party distance itself from a movement highlighting failures in an education system it has consistently criticised? Why refuse to engage with young Indians merely because some organisers have uncertain political backgrounds?My own interactions with several members of the CJP suggest they are driven less by party politics than by frustration with the system. They may be inexperienced, idealistic, occasionally disorganised and politically nave. But dismissing them as agents of one political formation or another is easier than listening to what they are actually saying. That is the larger tragedy.The Modi government, secure and domineering after twelve years in power, increasingly appears convinced that dissent can simply be ignored or overwhelmed. Critics become enemies, protestors become conspirators and inconvenient questions are brushed aside. For the government, the CJP is yet another attempt by malcontents with foreign links to undermine an elected prime minister.The Congress risks making the opposite mistake. By seeing hidden hands everywhere, it may end up alienating precisely the young citizens whose aspirations it hopes to represent.India’s youth deserve better than becoming pawns in competing conspiracy theories. They deserve answers on paper leaks, delayed recruitment, crumbling public education and shrinking employment opportunities. They deserve governments willing to listen and oppositions willing to lead. Above all, they deserve a political class that responds to genuine public anger with empathy instead of suspicion.In the end, conspiracy theories are often the refuge of insecure politics. Democracies flourish not when every protest is viewed through the prism of hidden agendas, but when those in power -- and those seeking power -- have the confidence to engage with uncomfortable truths.Less paranoia. More accountability. India’s young citizens deserve nothing less.- Ends(Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author)Published By: Devika BhattacharyaPublished On: Jul 22, 2026 10:48 IST