The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) held a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak and other examination irregularities. The protest was led by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and joined by students, parents, and supporters. Author and activist Arundhati Roy and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk also participated in support of the protesters. The demonstration remained peaceful, with participants raising slogans and calling for action on their demands (here, here, and here).

Amid this, a video of author and activist Arundhati Roy is being widely shared on social media (here, here, and here) with the claim that it shows her saying that Kashmir is not an integral part of India while speaking at a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: The video shows Arundhati Roy saying Kashmir is not an integral part of India at a Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar.

Fact: The video does not show Arundhati Roy making the remarks at a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar. It is from her speech at the “Azadi – The Only Way Ahead: Convention on Kashmir” held at the LTG Auditorium in New Delhi on 21 October 2010, years before the Cockroach Janta Party was formed. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.

A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to a YouTube video uploaded by Tehelka TV on 30 October 2010, titled “Arundhati Roy at the ‘Azaadi – The Only Way Ahead’ conference in New Delhi, 21st October.“ According to the description, the video shows Roy speaking at the “Azadi – The Only Way Ahead: Convention on Kashmir” held at the LTG Auditorium in New Delhi on 21 October 2010, and notes that the first few minutes of her speech are missing. This confirms that the viral clip is from 2010, years before the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) was formed, and has no connection to its recent protest at Jantar Mantar.

In 2024, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena granted sanction to prosecute Arundhati Roy under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over remarks she allegedly made at the “Azadi – The Only Way Ahead” conference held in New Delhi in 2010. Former Central University of Kashmir professor Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain was also granted prosecution sanction in the same case. The FIR was registered in 2010, alleging that speeches delivered at the conference were provocative.

To sum up, this viral video of Arundhati Roy saying Kashmir is not an integral part of India is from 2010 and is unrelated to the 2026 CJP protest.