Thousands of supporters of India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement returned to the streets of Delhi on Tuesday, a day after violent clashes with police, undeterred by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vow to punish those responsible for damaging exam leaks.
More than 5,000 protesters gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site after Monday’s march on parliament, which had demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, ended in violent confrontations with police. Modi’s remarks on the issue, relayed by a cabinet minister, marked his first public comments since question papers for a national medical school entrance test leaked in May, an incident that affected 2 million students and, according to local media, led about a dozen to take their own lives. Youth anger over the leaks has become the biggest challenge Modi has faced in his third term.
Delhi Police said nearly 180 people, including 118 security personnel and 60 protesters, were injured in Monday’s clashes in central Delhi. The founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, the movement that began as an online satire page, said more than 150 protesters were receiving hospital treatment, though Reuters could not independently verify the figures after police used batons and tear gas to push demonstrators back.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was briefly detained on Tuesday, along with several dozen Congress party members, including his sister Priyanka Vadra, after they staged a protest outside Modi’s residence against the police crackdown, according to news agency ANI. Footage showed Gandhi, in his signature white T-shirt and khaki trousers, lying on the road and resisting officers before being carried into a police bus with other party members. One protester held a sign reading “Democracy bleeds when voices are beaten.”
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told lawmakers that the government had acted swiftly on reports of exam irregularities, with 13 people arrested and jailed, and that a re-examination had been successfully carried out. According to Rijiju, Modi told his ruling alliance that to safeguard the future of the country’s youth, all sides should unite to ensure strict action, punishment for the guilty, and a foolproof system going forward.
The CJP movement said it would continue its protest campaign but would not attempt another march on parliament, citing fears that supporters would again be beaten by police. The movement, now months old, has drawn support from millions of young Indians demanding Pradhan’s resignation, framing the May leak as evidence of deep corruption within the education system. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke apologized to supporters, particularly women, whom he said had been beaten by male police officers. Delhi Police, for its part, said protesters had displayed unruly, aggressive, and violent behavior and had deliberately defied prohibitory orders.
The movement gained further momentum after activist Sonam Wangchuk began a hunger strike on June 28, only to be forcibly moved to hospital by police on Saturday. On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court allowed the Magsaysay Award winner to be shifted to a private hospital, following a petition from his wife alleging he had been illegally detained, a ruling that satisfies one of the protesters’ three central demands.
CJP said Health Minister J.P. Nadda had requested time to discuss the movement’s demands with the government following a Monday meeting with two of its leaders. Those demands include Wangchuk’s release, Pradhan’s resignation, and compensation of 10 million rupees, about $104,000, for the families of each of the roughly dozen students who died by suicide after the leak. Organizers say the movement’s rapid growth reflects deeper frustrations among young Indians over job shortages, compounding anger over exam leaks they describe as a recurring problem.
