Hundreds of supporters of India's youth-led Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) gathered in New Delhi on Monday to march on parliament, defying a police ban and demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a series of damaging exam paper leaks. The planned demonstration coincided with the opening day of parliament's monsoon session, and is widely regarded as the most significant public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term in office.
The CJP was formed in May after the papers for a national medical school entrance examination were leaked, forcing more than two million students to retake the test. The movement rapidly gained momentum online, amassing 22 million Instagram followers within days, before broadening its appeal and drawing the support of some opposition parties. The protest site at Jantar Mantar — a historic observatory in the heart of New Delhi, a few kilometres from parliament — has been occupied by demonstrators for more than three weeks. Scores of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed around the heavily barricaded area, setting the stage for a potential standoff. Authorities cited the opening of parliament and the need to protect government installations as justification for orders prohibiting assemblies of five or more people outside the designated protest site. The CJP said the march would proceed regardless.
The movement has been further galvanised since Saturday, when police forcibly moved hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk to a government hospital — a move his wife, Gitanjali Angmo, described on social media as "illegal detention" rather than medical care. A Delhi court ruled on Monday that authorities had acted within their rights given Wangchuk's deteriorating health after more than 20 days without food. Hospital authorities said his vital signs were stable but that his blood parameters remained "marginally altered" and required round-the-clock monitoring. In a handwritten note posted from hospital, Wangchuk said he would end his fast if the government acknowledged accountability for education failures and paper leaks, or if CJP protesters were permitted to reach parliament and receive assurances from lawmakers that the issues would be formally debated.
The students who travelled to the capital reflect the frustrations driving the movement. "We want this corruption to end — all the frauds in paper leaks, in competitive examinations," said Mohammed Tabrez, 22, who had journeyed roughly 165 kilometres from Amroha in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Analysts note that India's youth unemployment rate, while officially recorded at 9.9 per cent among those aged 15 to 29, rises to 13.6 per cent in urban areas — a figure that lends urgency to grievances about a system in which high-stakes exams are widely seen as the primary gateway to professional life and government employment.
The confrontation matters beyond the immediate demands of the CJP. Recurring exam scandals have shaken public confidence in India's education administration, and the rapid mobilisation of millions of young people — both online and on the streets — signals a broadening sense of grievance that crosses regional and political lines. With parliament now in session and the prospect of a physical standoff in central New Delhi, the government faces growing pressure to respond substantively to calls for accountability in the education system.