India Police Block Thousands Of 'Cockroach Movement' Protesters In New Delhi

According to Lianhe Zaobao, tens of thousands of supporters of India’s so-called “Cockroach Movement” gathered in New Delhi on Monday despite police refusal to issue a protest permit, and police at one point fired tear gas and used batons to try to stop them from marching toward parliament, although thousands still pressed on. The protesters, mostly students, began assembling near the Jantar Mantar observatory on Monday, July 20, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Pradhan over exam irregularities including leaked test papers and technical failures. The youth-led movement began in May after a national medical entrance exam paper leak affected more than 2 million candidates, and it has since been fueled by high youth unemployment and seen as one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest public challenges in his third term.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, members of the movement’s party said after talks with the government that Health Minister Nadda had promised to consider their demands, which include freeing activist Wangchuk, Pradhan’s resignation, and compensation of 1 million rupees each to candidates who died by suicide. The party said about a dozen candidates had died by suicide, and Nadda later called on all protesters to end the sit-in and help restore normal order. The party also briefly said its founder Deepak had been arrested, but later clarified that this was not the case.