For the third day in a row, tens of thousands of protesters are gathering in the capital, New Delhi, to protest the country's education system. Police attempts earlier this week to quell the protests by firing tear gas and attacking the demonstrators with batons have backfired. The crowd at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi is dense, and people are shouting slogans against Modi and the government. Many of the protesters have traveled tens of miles to join the protests.
"I am scared because I saw the police beating people and using violence, but we have no other choice but to continue our movement," 20-year-old Kavya, who did not want to give her first name, told AFP.
Opposition leader arrested
On Tuesday, the movement gained momentum when the opposition joined the protests. Several politicians were arrested, including opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, but were later released.
"An attack on students is an attack on every Indian family. Prime Minister Modi thinks he can get away with no answers, no consequences. He can't. Not this time," Gandhi writes on X.
The Cockroach Movement emerged in May as a protest against shortcomings in the education system after more than two million students were forced to retake a medical entrance exam. Since then, the movement has gained millions of followers on social media. The name Cockroach Janta Party is a satirical response to controversial statements by Indian judge Surya Kant, who likened unemployed, politically active youth to cockroaches. The name is also a jab at Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.
Widespread dissatisfaction
The protesters are demanding, among other things, the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. But as the movement has grown, the protests have become about frustration over high unemployment and dissatisfaction with Modi's authoritarian rule.
Despite the country's rapid economic growth in recent years, millions of Indians struggle to find secure jobs with a reasonable income.
Indian NDTV reports that the government will meet with representatives of the Cockroach People's Party on Wednesday to discuss their demands. Education Minister Pradhan says the government is committed to "addressing all the genuine concerns of our youth," but does not say he will resign.
According to Ashutosh Ranka, a spokesman for the movement, the demonstrators will not stop protesting until their demands are met, AFP reports.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) was founded in May by Abhijeet Dipke in response to a statement by India's Chief Justice Surya Kant in which he called unemployed, politically active youth "cockroaches." The name is also a jab at the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party). The words janta and janata are different transliterations of the same word in Hindi.
Within a week, the party had gained over 22 million followers on Instagram.
The CJP is calling for an overhaul of India's education system, with greater accountability for alleged exam leaks. More than 2 million students who took the medical entrance exam in May were forced to retake it after it emerged that the exam had been leaked. Relatives of affected students say they are devastated by the scandal, and more than 20 students have since committed suicide.
The CJP believes that Pradhan should take moral responsibility for the leak and resign.
Source: TT, BBC
