Supporters of India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement clashed with police in New Delhi on Monday after authorities blocked a planned march to Parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session, escalating a protest campaign centered on examination paper leaks and concerns over the country’s education system.
Television footage showed police using batons against some protesters gathered near the heavily barricaded protest site at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi. Delhi Police denied using force, stating that the demonstration was being handled professionally. Security was tightened around the area with scores of police officers and paramilitary personnel deployed amid concerns that demonstrators would attempt to march toward Parliament despite permission being denied.
The protest marks the largest public mobilization by the months-old movement, which has rapidly expanded from a social media campaign into a nationwide youth movement. Reuters reported that the campaign is widely seen as the most significant public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his third term in office.
The demonstrations gained renewed momentum after activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had joined the protest on June 28 with an indefinite hunger strike, was forcibly moved to a hospital by police on Saturday. His removal prompted thousands of additional supporters to travel overnight to New Delhi, swelling the crowd at the protest site.
Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma told Reuters that police had held discussions with representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party but that no agreement had been reached. Sharma said the designated protest area had reached capacity and warned that further crowds could create safety concerns. Police estimated that around 10,000 protesters had assembled by Monday morning.
As demonstrators gathered peacefully in rainy conditions, they chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Protest organizers maintained they remained willing to engage in discussions with the government. CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das told ANI that movement leaders had opened the door to talks despite what he described as a delayed response from the authorities.
The movement began after question papers for India’s national medical school entrance examination were leaked in May, affecting more than two million students and forcing the examination to be conducted again. Since then, it has expanded beyond the issue of examination security, reflecting broader frustrations among young Indians over education, corruption and employment opportunities.
Many protesters traveled from outside the capital to participate in Monday’s demonstration. Adi Nathan, a 21-year-old student from Meerut, said he joined the protest because repeated examination paper leaks must end. Mohammed Tabrez, a 22-year-old competitive examination candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district, said he wanted corruption and fraud in recruitment and entrance examinations to stop.
The Cockroach Janta Party initially built its support online, attracting 22 million Instagram followers within days, before gaining backing from some opposition political parties. Its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, launched a sit-in last month demanding the resignation of the education minister, with Wangchuk later joining the campaign through his hunger strike.
In a handwritten message posted on X from hospital on Monday, Wangchuk said he would end his fast if the government accepted responsibility for failures in the education system and examination paper leaks or if protesters were allowed to march to Parliament and lawmakers assured them that the issues would be addressed. He also said he would end the hunger strike if political leaders met him in hospital and provided similar assurances, noting that his health no longer allowed him to participate in the planned march.
The movement’s rapid rise has highlighted growing concerns among young Indians over education, employment and governance. Government data show that overall unemployment among people aged 15 and above stood at 3.1% in 2025, while unemployment among those aged 15 to 29 reached 9.9%, including 13.6% in urban areas and 8.3% in rural regions.
