Delhi's 'Cockroach' Protesters Demand Education Minister Resign
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- Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) mobilized tens of thousands of Gen Z protesters at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Monday, calling for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over exam paper leaks — the largest anti-government protest in the capital in recent years.
- Sonam Wangchuk, a 59-year-old engineer-activist, was forcibly taken to hospital on Saturday after a 20-day hunger strike supporting the CJP at Jantar Mantar, prompting founder Abhijeet Dipke to call for a march on parliament.
- NEET exam scandal saw 2.28 million candidates sit India's main medical college entrance test on 3 May before it was cancelled over leaked questions; families allege roughly 20 students died by suicide due to the distress.
- CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old former Boston University student, started the movement as an online joke — but a Google Form signup drew tens of thousands of responses, turning satire into street muscle.
- Chief Justice Surya Kant allegedly compared unemployed young people to cockroaches during a court hearing; though he later clarified he meant holders of "fake and bogus degrees," the insult was adopted as the movement's defiant name.
- Opposition politicians rallied behind the students — Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called police baton-charges "an attack on democracy," while TMC MP Mahua Moitra joined protesters in person and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav voiced support.
Why it matters: The CJP has weaponized a Chief Justice's insult into the biggest anti-Modi street mobilization in years, rooted in a concrete failure: 2.28 million NEET candidates saw their results voided after question-paper leaks, with families claiming roughly 20 student suicides followed. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan now faces coordinated opposition demands for his ouster, turning a satirical online joke into measurable political pressure on Modi's government.
