Islamabad: Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has warned that growing frustration among young people could turn into a powerful movement capable of “overturning everything”, drawing a comparison with the youth-led “Cockroach” movement in neighbouring India. Speaking at a gathering, Naqvi acknowledged Pakistan’s worsening economic problems, rising debt and dissatisfaction among the younger generation. His remarks have attracted attention because he openly admitted that the country’s existing system has struggled to meet the expectations of its youth. “We are unable to give our youth what they want. You can call them youth or cockroaches or whatever. But if these cockroaches get together, then they can overturn everything,” Naqvi said, according to the material provided.

The interior minister also delivered a sharp assessment of Pakistan’s economic and administrative situation. He said the system the country has been operating under for decades has effectively “collapsed”, while governments continue relying on additional borrowing instead of addressing the underlying debt problem. Pointing towards the federal budget, Naqvi said discussions repeatedly revolve around how much more debt Pakistan will need to take rather than how the country can fix its finances. “Our duty is to fix. But we won't. We will take more debt. Our debt is rising every year,” he said. His use of the term “cockroaches” comes against the backdrop of recent student protests in India over alleged examination irregularities and paper leaks. According to the supplied report, those demonstrations were largely led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), described as a youth-led satirical political movement and online civic-engagement project headed by Abhijeet Dipke. The agitation gained further attention after climate activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk began an indefinite hunger strike in support of the protesting students. The protests were followed by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stepping down and Parliament passing the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026.

The Indian protests also reportedly attracted attention among sections of Pakistan’s Gen Z on social media. India responded to reports of support from youth groups across the border by shifting the focus to cross-border terrorism. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Pakistan had sponsored cross-border terrorism against India for decades and added that Indians, including Gen Z, wanted Pakistan to end such activities. Naqvi’s remarks, however, underline a different concern inside Pakistan — the possibility that economic difficulties and dissatisfaction among young people could translate into organised political mobilisation. With debt continuing to rise and the government facing pressure over economic conditions, his comments amount to a rare public acknowledgement from a senior Pakistani minister about the potential political consequences of youth frustration. His warning that a united youth movement could “overturn everything” has now placed India’s recent “Cockroach” protests into Pakistan’s domestic political conversation.