Thousands of young Indians returned to central Delhi on Tuesday, a day after riot police used tear gas and batons to break up a march on parliament by a months-old youth movement demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The confrontation was the largest anti-government mobilization in the Indian capital in years and marks the emergence of the Cockroach Janta Party, a satirical protest group with no formal party structure, as one of the most visible expressions of public dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party since it took power in 2014. Delhi police said 60 protesters and 118 personnel were injured Monday and 70 protesters were detained. The group put the number of injured demonstrators at 150.
Behind the movement
The Cockroach Janta Party grew from tens of thousands of online signups this spring into a street movement drawing crowds in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Goa. Its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, 30, is a political-communications strategist and former Boston University student. The group takes its name from a May remark by Chief Justice Surya Kant, who likened unemployed graduates drifting into journalism and activism to cockroaches, then clarified he had meant only those with "fake and bogus degrees."
Exam scandal
The movement's core grievance is the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, taken by 2.28 million medical-college aspirants on May 3, after the paper leaked. More than 20 students have since died by suicide, according to their families. Protesters want Pradhan, who oversees the exam system, to step down.
Wangchuk detention
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, 59, has been on hunger strike since June 28 and was forcibly hospitalized by police on Saturday, an act that helped drive a larger-than-expected turnout Monday. Al Jazeera reported blood on the walls of Connaught Place after the crackdown and quoted 18-year-old protester Anshul Dev saying the government "is treating us like terrorists and criminals." Amnesty International said the police response showed "how peaceful dissent is being suppressed in India." Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka led Congress party members in a march to Modi's residence Tuesday.
Government response
Modi has not publicly addressed the protests or the police action. Pradhan has rejected calls to step down, calling the Cockroach Janta Party "the B-team of disruptive elements." Health Minister JP Nadda met two group spokespeople for 10 minutes Monday and asked demonstrators to end their sit-in, offering no concrete commitments. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said Tuesday that "when the talks are going on in a right direction, the atmosphere should not be vitiated."
Dipke told supporters Monday night the party would not organize another parliamentary march but would keep pressing its demands. "We will not back down until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns," he said.