Rahul Gandhi detained at Modi residence as “Cockroach Janta Party” education protests continue

India Blocks Mobile Internet In Central Delhi As Youth Protests Escalate The Indian government has ordered telecom companies to disable ​mobile data services in central parts ‌of the capital Delhi, in and around the site of youth protests seeking the resignation ​of the education minister, two sources ​told Reuters on Thursday. The companies have ⁠complied with the order, Reuters sources ​said. There was ‌no ⁠mobile data connectivity in many parts of central Delhi on Thursday evening, Reuters journalists said. Vendors, shopkeepers and restaurants ​complained that ​they were ⁠unable to accept digital payments. India’s youth protesters have called for nationwide demonstrations on Friday even as Prime Minister Narendra ‌Modi’s government urged them to join talks, while shutting metro stations and mobile internet services and curtailing business in central Delhi. The youth protesters, led by the self-named "Cockroach" Janta Party movement, have been ​camping in central Delhi since ​last ⁠month and are demanding the resignation of the education minister over leaks of medical school entrance test papers that affected some 2 million students in May and have been linked to several student suicides. The protests have swelled ​into the biggest youth challenge to Modi since he came to power in 2014. Opposition parties have echoed the youth movement's demands and have disrupted the monsoon session ​of parliament that began this week. It marks the biggest political crisis of Modi's third term, which began in 2024. The government made ⁠a fresh appeal on Thursday to the protesters to join talks to resolve the crisis but they responded by calling for nationwide peaceful protests on Friday in solidarity ​with students who alleged police brutality during a march on parliament on Monday by tens of thousands of people. Thousands of people had returned to the Jantar Mantar protest ​site by Thursday afternoon, carrying anti-government posters and chanting slogans amid heavy security deployment. Protests also spread to other cities, including Ranchi, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram and Kolkata, local media reported. Authorities in Delhi shut down 16 metro rail stations in and around the central parts of Delhi where the protesters have remained camped, inconveniencing thousands of commuters. The government also ​ordered telecom firms to block mobile internet services in the area, sources told Reuters, a move that not only affected protesters but also stopped shops and restaurants from receiving ​digital payments by phone. Separately, all offices and businesses in the Connaught Place area, the bustling central business district, were asked to shut early on Thursday by the New Delhi Traders ‌Association, which ⁠cited an advisory from municipal authorities due to the security situation in the area. The measures are seen as an attempt by authorities to curb the protests and prevent any fresh outbreak of violence. More than 10,000 people had gathered on Wednesday night at the Jantar Mantar protest site. Some protesters attacked police with stones and plastic bottles, injuring a few officers, news agency ANI quoted Delhi Police as saying. In Monday's clashes during the march on parliament, police used tear gas and canes to push back the protesters. Earlier on Thursday, Modi said that ​special courts would be set up ⁠to prosecute those behind exam paper leaks, his first public response to the crisis. "Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth!" Modi posted on X. But CJP rejected the proposal, saying what courts do after paper leaks is just one ​aspect of the problem. "But Modi-ji, tell us why are paper leaks happening in this country in the first place?" CJP ​spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said, ⁠using the Hindi honorific. Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 16:40

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed "stringent punishment" on Thursday for anyone involved in leaking exam papers, a scandal that has sparked protests challenging his administration. A series of irregularities has stoked public anger, including a medical entrance paper being leaked -- forcing millions to retake the exam -- and a failure in an online marking system. The protest movement has evolved to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what critics brand as Modi's increasingly authoritarian style of governance. In a social media post on Thursday, Modi said that "nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth", promising to set up fast-track courts to punish those involved in the leaks. "Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared," he said. His post did not mention Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, whose resignation has been one of the protesters' main demands. Modi's promise comes as thousands of protesters, led by the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, rallied in New Delhi this week. The protests have become one of the biggest challenges for the Hindu-nationalist leader since his 2024 re-election for a third term. The CJP, which has millions of followers on social media, said Thursday it would press ahead with their fight "to fix the system and set accountability". "This country has seen many announcements of fast-track courts, but this is not the solution to the systemic issues in the education system," CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka said on X. "Modi should fix the system, remove Dharmendra Pradhan and bring accountability." Aarohi Singh, a 23-year-old protester, said her sister was one of those forced to retake the medical entrance exam but did not pass. "After the paper leaked she was demoralised and broken," she said. To Singh, "there's the people of the country on one side and the (education) minister on the other." "Why can't the prime minister just sack him?" - 'Future of our youth' - The Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi has seen bouts of unrest and violence during the week. Crowds spilled out on streets outside Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, triggering late-night clashes with police. On Monday, protests snowballed after police fired tear gas and baton-charged demonstrators as they tried to march to parliament. Human Rights Watch in a statement on Thursday urged the government to investigate "unnecessary and excessive use of force, allow peaceful protests, and stop suspending mobile internet services, which put people at added risk". At Jantar Mantar, content creator Kaushal Malik said he had joined the demonstrations despite his family's concerns. "My parents support the cause but don't want me to be here because they are afraid for my safety," Malik, 22, said. "They've asked me to be careful and not go too close to police. They've been calling and checking on me, and are scared just like any other Indian family." The protest movement has been backed by opposition parties who have been disrupting parliament proceedings and demanding an apology from Modi over Monday's police action. "You are the one who has harmed the future of our youth the most," Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party said on X on Thursday, referring to Modi. "You allowed and encouraged the total capture and destruction of our education system -- and protected every person responsible for it." Engineering student Kunal Suryavanshi, who travelled to the New Delhi protest from his town in Madhya Pradesh state, said he had "come to be part of something that will hopefully lead to change". "All I have brought with me is hope," the 17-year-old told AFP. In neighbouring Bangladesh -- where youth-led protests in 2024 toppled the government of Sheikh Hasina -- dozens of students held a "torch rally" on Thursday evening to express their solidarity with protesters in Delhi. "We want to express our full support for the students protesting against the commercialisation of education, corruption and question paper leaks," Rafiquzzaman Farid, coordinator of a student activist group, told AFP.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Thursday “stringent punishment” for those involved in exam fraud that has fuelled student anger, in his first direct comments tied to major protests challenging his government. The comments came after thousands of protesters, led by the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, rallied in New Delhi on Wednesday, triggering fresh clashes with the police. “Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth,” he said in a post on X, promising to set up fast-track courts to punish those involved in question paper leaks. “Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared,” he added. The protesters, mostly young students, have been demanding the resignation of the education minister over exam paper leaks since last month. Protests snowballed on Monday after police fired tear gas and baton-charged tens of thousands of demonstrators as they tried to march to parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session. As tensions escalated, protesters responded by hurling stones, marking the largest street rally in the capital in about five years. At least 178 people, including security personnel, were injured in the violence, according to the police. The CJP, which has millions of followers on social media, emerged in May initially as a satirical response to Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly likening young people to “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a court hearing. The movement has since broadened its agenda to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what it describes as Modi’s increasingly authoritarian style of governance. The protests have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Hindu-nationalist Modi since his re-election for a third term in office in 2024. A series of exam irregularities have undermined trust in India’s testing system, including the leak of a medical entrance question paper that forced more than two million candidates to retake the test. Another dispute involving the online marking of examinations taken by nearly two million high school students has further fuelled public anger.

A steady stream of food delivery riders carrying meals, snacks and bottled water is helping sustain a youth-led protest movement that has sprung up in the heart of India’s capital. Motorcycles weave through traffic before pulling up beside clusters of volunteers, ferrying donations from supporters across India and abroad unable to join a rare display of public dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. “From Kerala to the USA, orders are coming from everywhere,” said rider Suraj Kumar, 25, sitting atop his motorcycle with a bag of kachoris, a popular deep-fried snack, as some volunteers climbed over police barricades to take delivery of the packages. A volunteer took the packet and passed it hand-to-hand towards the centre of the protest site a few hundred metres away around Delhi’s Jantar Mantar observatory, where hundreds of people gathered around a raised platform. There, leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a movement that began as online satire in May, demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated test paper leaks. They have been there since last month, but the protest gained momentum only in recent days after a prominent activist began an indefinite hunger strike in support. Protest sustained by ‘people’s kindness’, says student The encampment has endured despite a major police crackdown on Monday, when tens of thousands of mostly young people tried to march on parliament. Indians under 30 are estimated to make up more than half of the country’s 1.42 billion population, and many have long complained that years of strong economic growth have failed to create enough jobs. “People are angry, especially after the police started beating innocent students. But not everyone can come here so they are sending food,” said Raj Rathore, 25, a volunteer who has spent the past few days unloading and distributing deliveries including water bottles, fruit and biscuits. Those contributions, along with volunteer-run support networks, have helped keep the protest running around the clock, students said. “This protest is running purely because of people’s kindness, and the fact that we are all united,” said Rina Rawat, a Delhi University student herding people into queues inside the protest site. Rawat, 20, was struck on her left leg by police batons on Monday but returned the next day to “do her duty”, she said. Protest features rare open criticism of Modi Modi has not directly commented on the protests, though a minister said after a meeting of the ruling coalition that the premier had told them the “strongest possible steps are being taken to protect the interest of the students”. Pradhan promised “answers, reforms and accountability”. At the protest site, the number of protesters swelled to 5,000 by late afternoon on Wednesday despite intermittent monsoon showers. Most were Gen Z students carrying placards, blasting patriotic Bollywood songs and chanting slogans. “Modi, we won’t tolerate your autocracy,” shouted a protester as the crowd cheered, a rare sight under a leader who has dominated Indian politics since taking power in 2014. “I was a Modi supporter until 10 days ago,” said Mukesh, who declined to give his second name. “But when I saw the police brutality, I was shocked.” Young doctors, medical students provide first aid, medicines Pharmacy workers arrive to deliver medical supplies to Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters during their ongoing protest demanding the resignation of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged NEET exam irregularities, near the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on July 22, 2026. — AFP Volunteers cleared puddles and collected garbage while others used hand-held fans to keep protesters cool in the humidity. A medical stall staffed by volunteer doctors and medical students has operated at the site for about a month. Volunteers said they had been especially busy over the past two days. “We are providing first aid and medicines for dizziness and nausea, said Bhavna, 23, who did not want to share her last name. “We too have suffered because of paper leaks, the anxiety that gives you is enormous. Many protesters drew inspiration from India’s independence movement, carrying portraits of revolutionary Bhagat Singh, holding copies of the Constitution and handing out roses. Others donned Spider-Man masks and held slogans describing themselves as “baddies”. Nearby, 19-year-old Arpita Verma said “there’s been too much Hindu-Muslim politics in India”, referring to sharper religious divisions under Modi’s party that draws support mainly from the Hindu majority. But we have no space for that here now we are united by a common cause, and we are not afraid at all.

India’s education minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration was committed to addressing the concerns of protesting youth and exam reforms, in the latest sign that the government was beginning to respond to growing protests. The comments by Dharmendra Pradhan are his first since the youth-led “cockroach” movement launched a protest in New Delhi last month seeking his resignation over the leak of medical school test papers that affected some two million students and was linked to several student suicides. The protests by the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — which began as an online satire — involved a few hundred young people when they were first launched. This week, the movement has grown into the biggest youth challenge to Modi in his third term as the prime minister as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Delhi on Monday, clashing with police who used tear gas and batons to push them back. The protests gained further momentum on Tuesday when the main opposition Congress party, led by Rahul Gandhi, launched a sit-in outside the gates leading to Modi’s residence. Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several other senior opposition leaders were detained by police after they refused to end their protest, but were released late on Tuesday. “Our government remains 100 per cent committed to discussing NEET and addressing every genuine concern of our youth on the floor of the house,” Pradhan said in a post on X late on Tuesday, referring to the medical school entrance test. “The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign,” he said, referring to Gandhi’s protest. “We owe our students more than outrage. We owe them answers, reforms and accountability. That is exactly what our government remains committed to delivering,” he added. Pradhan’s comments follow those by Modi on Tuesday — his first on the issue — who vowed to punish those behind the exam leaks and also called on his lawmakers to help create a foolproof exam system. Separately, Health Minister JP Nadda held talks with CJP leaders on Monday for the first time and assured them the government would consider their demands. Gandhi demands debate in Parliament Youth anger and protests over the exams have become the biggest challenge for the prime minister in his third term. The CJP’s surge in popularity reflects frustrations among young Indians over issues such as job shortages, as well as exam leaks, which they say happen frequently. It has also given opposition parties a rare opening to pressure Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who count young voters as a core base and have won a series of state elections since a shock result in the 2024 election, when Modi did not win an outright parliamentary majority. “Why is the Indian education system collapsing? Why are papers leaking? Why is education so expensive in India? Why do families have to destroy themselves financially to educate their children?” Gandhi said in a video message recorded while he was in detention at a Delhi stadium on Tuesday night. “These are legitimate questions. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking these questions,” he said. Gandhi said the students’ issues should be debated in parliament on Wednesday and Modi should apologise to the students for the police action on Monday and begin reforms to the examination and education systems as soon as possible. The CJP movement gained momentum from the support of activist Sonam Wangchuk, who began a hunger strike on June 28, but was forcibly moved to a hospital by police on Saturday. On Tuesday, he was moved to a private hospital following a court order in response to a petition from his wife that alleged he had been illegally detained.

Thousands of supporters of India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement have been camping in the capital, New Delhi, to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in the biggest public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term. Here is a look at what sparked the protests and the situation now. Why do protesters want Pradhan to quit? The immediate trigger for the demonstrations was the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), India’s undergraduate medical school entrance exam, after its question papers were found to have been leaked. About two million students across India took the exam on May 3, but it was later scrapped, with about a dozen student suicides linked to its cancellation. A re-test was held in June. Why is NEET important? The exam is the sole gateway to undergraduate medical courses across India, and millions of aspirants sit for it every year, competing for fewer than 150,000 seats, making it one of India’s toughest entrance exams. The situation is also symptomatic of broader strains on the country’s higher education system, where grossly limited spots leave millions cramming for months, or even years, and high-stakes entrance exams leave many of them burnt out and in debt. Have test papers been leaked before? Exam question paper leaks are fairly common in India, and the NEET questions themselves were similarly leaked in some places in 2024, although a re-test was not ordered at the time. Other examination papers have also been leaked in the South Asian nation of 1.4 billion people, including those for recruitment of police constables and teachers. Why is this leak different? The exam leak this year coincided with the birth of the self-named Cockroach Janta Party satire movement, which appears to have channelled the frustration of the youth into the current protests. Experts say the group, which amassed millions of Instagram followers within days of being created in mid-May, tapped into the concerns of under-30s, who make up more than half the country’s population, which includes high youth unemployment and the latest exam paper leak. How has the government responded? Pradhan says the government is committed to addressing the concerns of the youth and promised exam reforms, while Modi himself has vowed to punish those behind the leaks. Health Minister JP Nadda met the protesters on Monday and sought time to discuss their demands, which also include the release of fasting activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was taken to hospital last week, and compensation of 10 million Indian rupees each for the students who died by suicide after the exam leak. What is the situation now? Two days after tens of thousands of protesters attempting to march on parliament were met with tear gas and baton charges, thousands remain camped at the sit-in protest site in New Delhi, where the movement’s leaders say they will remain until their demands are met. Opposition groups, including the main opposition Congress party, have also vowed to raise their cause in and outside parliament, seeing it as a new opportunity to corner Modi and his party over an issue that has massive resonance and impacts Modi’s youth vote base. Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister and fellow lawmaker, Priyanka Gandhi, and several other senior opposition leaders were detained by police after they refused to end their protest outside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on Tues­day, but were released later.