This week tens of thousands of young people have taken to the streets of Delhi, India’s capital, demanding changes to the electoral system and the resignation of the country’s electoral commissioner. Thousands have been detained by police in the process.

They represent the ‘cockroach’ movement, a grassroots campaign group started by a Boston University graduate in protest at government policies and high youth unemployment. How did a movement that started as a meme capture the minds of India’s young people, and start to pose a challenge to its long-serving prime minister, Narendra Modi?

The BBC’s South Asia correspondent, Azadeh Moshiri, explains.

Timecodes:
0:00 Could the Cockroach movement reshape India?
0:51 Introduction to Azadeh Moshiri
1:28 What has been going on in India and how is the CJP involved?
3:05 The Cockroach Janta Party’s October demonstration in Delhi
7:34 How many people have been detained?
8:02 Who are the Cockroach Janta Party and their leader Abhijeet Dipke?
10:18 Indian exam leaks and their relevance
14:28 What caused the lull in protesting since summer?
17:01 Why is the CJP so popular?
19:21 Has Narendra Modi lost his political magic?
20:06 What is the justification for Modi’s BJP party to detain so many people?
23:04 Has Modi lost touch with the youth?Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

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Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

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Today, President Trump blocked sanctions on Russia a month after he signed them into law. This comes after he said he ‘wasn’t a big fan’ of Volodymyr Zelensky. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president at a summit in Brussels said the Europeans were ‘real leaders’.

Laura is joined by BBC world affairs editor John Simpson to discuss why the US president is becoming more friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Plus, John marks 60 years at the BBC by sharing his most memorable moments from his career reporting around the world.

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Extraordinary access reveals how powerful synthetic drugs are reshaping America’s drug crisis. From a jail in Chicago to the …

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Politicians and commentators keep telling us we’re living through unprecedented times. But how unusual is the world we’re living in, really?

John Simpson has spent 60 years reporting for the BBC, witnessing some of the most consequential moments in modern history. He was on the plane that brought Ayatollah Khomeini back to Iran during the 1979 revolution. He watched the Berlin Wall come down. And he reported from Beijing during the protests in Tiananmen Square.

Those experiences have left Simpson with a perspective that’s not entirely pessimistic. Having lived through the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of apartheid, Simpson has seen seemingly entrenched systems change in ways few thought possible.

Now, as wars rage and the global order shifts again, he joins The Global Story’s Asma Khalid to reflect on what those moments can tell us about the present — and whether today’s conflicts are repeating familiar patterns.

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Timecodes:
0:00 Are we living through unprecedented times?
0:54 John Simpson and his career throughout the BBC
3:50 The Iranian revolution of 1979
5:55 Did it feel the revolution would last as long as it has?
7:13 The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989
12:55 What is John’s main takeaway from the Berlin wall?
13:23 Tiananmen Square incident in China, 1989
15:12 The U.S and British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan
17:37 Are more unprecedented times ahead?
20:30 John’s message to the younger generation

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