'Cockroach' Protests Intensify Against Modi's Government
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- CJP protesters maintained a round-the-clock sit-in at Delhi's Jantar Mantar despite overnight rains and police dismantling their stage, tents, and makeshift structures on Monday.
- Police used batons and tear gas against tens of thousands of demonstrators marching toward parliament as the monsoon session began, injuring at least 60 people including protesters and officers.
- Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge led a surprise march to PM Modi's house on Tuesday demanding resignations of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Modi himself; Congress shared videos of Gandhi being dragged into buses and taken to detention before release.
- Gandhi alleged Speaker Om Birla told him parliamentary discussion required government permission, while Federal Minister Jitendra Singh countered that the government had accepted the debate demand but accused Gandhi of "changing the goalpost" by adding the resignation demand.
- Pradhan, in his first comments since the violence, accused Congress of "shamelessly exploiting students as political tools" and choosing "political spectacle over democratic debate."
- The CJP movement was inspired by India's chief justice using the word "cockroach" to describe unemployed youth turning to journalism; activist Sonam Wangchuk joined on June 28 for an indefinite hunger strike before being forcibly removed by police on Saturday.
- Support for the CJP has spread beyond Delhi to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad, with the movement becoming one of the most visible expressions of public dissent against Modi in recent years.
Why it matters: The opposition Congress has formally joined a youth-led movement and is now demanding the resignations of three senior ministers including the PM, escalating a sit-in protest into a broader political confrontation — with the CJP's reach now extending to four major cities beyond Delhi.
