Police block Cockroach protesters marching on India’s parliament

Police fired tear gas, used barricades and pushed back thousands of supporters of India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party on Monday as protesters tried to march on parliament to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged exam paper leaks and corruption in the education system.

The march in New Delhi, timed to the opening day of parliament’s monsoon session, was the movement’s largest show of strength so far. Sachin Sharma, Delhi’s deputy commissioner of police, said more than 10,000 protesters were at Jantar Mantar and on the march, warning that the protest site had “already run out of space” and could lead to an “untoward situation.” The BBC reported that tens of thousands of students, parents, teachers and professionals gathered from early morning despite heavy rain and a police ban on marching to parliament.

Protesters chanted slogans calling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pradhan to quit. “This rotten system refuses to take action,” yoga teacher Jyoti Rajput told Al Jazeera. “It cannot see the pain of students, and that’s why so many people have joined this movement.”

Police sealed roads to parliament and blocked the march with successive barricades. Scuffles broke out as some protesters tried to push through or reach parliament through side streets. Several demonstrators said they were injured in baton charges, the BBC reported, while Al Jazeera said police used tear gas, canes and baton charges. Delhi Police did not comment to the BBC on the injury allegations. Police also denied reports of scuffles at the protest site, according to Al Jazeera, though videos circulating online appeared to show riot police using canes to push people back.

Volunteer doctor Gaurish Batra told the BBC he had treated “at least 10 people,” including a man with a blood-soaked shirt collar and a woman with a suspected broken leg. Authorities also suspended mobile internet services in parts of central Delhi, the BBC reported.

The Cockroach Janta Party emerged after India’s chief justice compared some unemployed young people to “cockroaches” during a court hearing, a remark he later withdrew, according to the BBC. Protesters adopted the insult as a symbol. The movement began online with satirical memes and has since drawn students, professionals, activists, opposition politicians and some Bollywood celebrities.

Its core grievance is the handling of alleged exam paper leaks. About 2.2 million aspiring doctors had to retake India’s annual medical entrance exam under heavy security last month after the original May test was annulled because questions were leaked, according to Al Jazeera. The government temporarily banned Telegram to try to prevent further leaks. Al Jazeera reported that more than a dozen students were reported to have died by suicide after months of stress and study before the exam was voided.

The protest gained momentum after police forcibly moved 59-year-old activist Sonam Wangchuk to a hospital on Saturday, the 21st day of his hunger strike in support of the movement. His wife said the fast continued, the BBC reported. On Monday, Wangchuk appealed to doctors to discharge him so he could join the march but was not allowed.

The government offered a meeting with Health Minister JP Nadda. By early afternoon, two Cockroach Janta Party representatives met him after waiting outside his residence for about two hours, the BBC reported. Spokesperson Saurav Das said they submitted a letter listing the group’s demands and that Nadda assured them he would raise the matter within the government. Nadda later posted on X urging protesters to end the demonstration and help restore “normalcy” in the capital.

The appeal did not end the standoff. By evening, the BBC reported, police in riot gear entered Jantar Mantar, announced that protesters no longer had permission to remain and began pushing people back. Some fled. Others linked arms and refused to leave.