India's cockroach movement supporters gather to march despite police ban
The months-old movement and the planned protest are seen as the biggest public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term in office, garnering millions of supporters on social media and mobilising support on the ground as well
Highlights:
- Police have denied permission for march on parliament seeking education minister's resignation
- Wangchuk may end fast if lawmakers assure action on exam failures
- Youth anger also centres on unemployment, especially among urban 15-29-year-olds
- Security build-up at protest site raises risk of confrontation near parliament
Hundreds of supporters of India's youth-led "cockroach" movement gathered in the capital, New Delhi, on 20 July to march on parliament, seeking the resignation of the education minister despite police denying permission for the protest.
The months-old movement and the planned protest are seen as the biggest public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term in office, garnering millions of supporters on social media and mobilising support on the ground as well.
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The movement has been galvanised since police forcibly moved hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk to hospital on Saturday, with thousands of supporters arriving through the night at the protest site of Jantar Mantar in the heart of New Delhi for the march on the opening day of parliament's monsoon session.
Scores of police and paramilitary security personnel were also deployed at the heavily barricaded site, threatening a stand-off a few km (miles) from parliament if the protesters seek to go ahead with their march.
"Quit, quit," the protesters chanted. "Dharmendra Pradhan quit", "Narendra Modi quit", they chanted in Hindi, referring to the education minister as well as the prime minister.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement began after national medical school entrance test papers were leaked in May, affecting more than 2 million students as it forced them to sit the test a second time.
"All these leaders in power are illiterate and I am here to protest because we do not want question papers to leak," said Adi Nathan, 21, a student from Meerut city, about 100 km (60 miles) from the capital. "This should come to an end."
Mohammed Tabrez, 22, a student preparing for competitive examinations that allow students admission into professional courses or jobs, said he had come from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh state, about 165 km (100 miles) away.
"We want this corruption to end," he said. "We want all the fraud in paper leaks, in competitive examinations, to end and this is the reason I have come here."
Activist sets terms to end his fast
The CJP initially drew support largely online, amassing 22 million followers on Instagram within days before broadening its appeal and drawing the support of some opposition parties.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and his supporters began a sit-in last month seeking the resignation of Pradhan. They were joined by Wangchuk on 28 June, who launched an indefinite hunger strike at the site.
In a handwritten note from hospital posted on his X account on Monday, Wangchuk said he would end his fast if the government takes accountability for recent failures in the education system and for paper leaks, or if CJP protesters are allowed to reach parliament and lawmakers assure them that the issues would be taken up in the chambers.
He said he would also end the fast if lawmakers and leaders of various parties meet him in hospital and give him the same assurances, since his health does not allow him to march on parliament.
The rise of the CJP reflects frustrations among young Indians over issues such as high youth unemployment and frequent examination paper leaks, analysts say.
Unemployment in 2025 stood at 3.1% among those aged 15 and above, government data shows, but in the 15 to 29 age bracket it was much higher, at 9.9%, and higher in urban areas, at 13.6%, than the 8.3% recorded in rural regions.
