The news agenda has been so dominated for many months by a few big stories about perennial global hotspots and the biggest figures on the international stage, that one could accuse journalists of missing what was happening outside the US, Middle East or Ukraine. But as our south-east Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, explains for this week’s big story, the rapid rise and sudden explosion on to the streets of India’s Cockroach Janta party took everyone – especially Narendra Modi’s government – by surprise.
What began as a satirical protest when the chief justice of India compared the country’s unemployed youth to cockroaches has damaged prime minister Modi’s image as a “strongman” leader and loosened his grip over the media. But as Hannah explains, it’s not just that the joke has “legs” and strong visuals; young people want a viable future and change.
The protests succeeded in forcing the resignation of the education minister, a huge concession for Modi, a leader whose 12 years in power have rarely seen him bow to popular pressure. As Mukul Kesavan, a Delhi-based writer, points out, a previous civil society movement at the Jamia Millia Islamia university was defeated by a combination of police repression and organised rioting. This time, though, Mukul explains, the cockroaches were protesting about “the corruption of competitive examinations, an issue that concerns every middle-class family in India”, and they used their phones to record and distribute on social media almost every act of police brutality against them.
We will be following what happens next for the cockroach movement but in the meantime here are some other great reads from this week’s issue.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
Spotlight | ‘Smoke covered the sun’
Angelique Chrisafis hears from people evacuated from France’s Gironde region near Bordeaux as southern Europe battles wildfires, the spread and ferocity of which have shocked everyone
Spotlight | Blue horizons for Gaza’s children
Sea pools made out of sandbags and rubble are part of Amjed Tantesh’s project to give traumatised children a brief respite from war, reports his niece and our Gaza reporter Seham Tantesh
Feature | A Hiroshima journey from anger to peace
Simon Hattenstone meets Koko Kondo, who survived the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and hears about the publication of her father’s long-forgotten diary written in the aftermath of that horrific day in 1945
Opinion | Andy Burnham’s ticket to major change
The UK prime minister’s first policy announcement on cut-price bus fares signals more than a cheap gimmick, says Jonathan Freedland
Culture | John Carpenter interview
The uncompromising film director talks to Steve Rose about his shock and horror Hollywood career and his new music album
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What else we’ve been reading
• Last Sunday saw Mayo become all-Ireland champions in Gaelic football for the first time in 75 years, beating Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Rory Carroll explains why a priest’s curse was blamed for the county having a trophy drought since 1951, and how the euphoric people of Mayo celebrated their surprise victory. Anthony Naughton, subeditor
• Zoe Williams’s opinion piece made me think about how often TV shows and books seem to spot where the world is heading long before the rest of us. It’s an interesting look at why storytellers can sometimes see the bigger picture more clearly than the people making the decisions, and it gave me a few books and TV shows to add to my list. Jade Lovitt, business manager
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | How Palantir got into the NHS
• Video | Why so many American Jews are turning away from Israel
• Gallery | ‘Witty, engaging and absurd’: LensCulture critics’ choice award winners
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