Protest movement calls for education minister’s resignation as demonstrations spread across the country.
In recent weeks, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), known as the “Cockroaches” movement, has gained greater public prominence in India through a series of protests against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
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The Cockroach Janta Party is not currently a traditional political party, but rather a youth movement that emerged on social media following a local controversy in India.
Its name comes from a phrase attributed to Supreme Court Justice Surya Kant, who in May compared some unemployed young people and activists to “cockroaches” and “parasites,” a remark that sparked outrage on social media.
Supporters later adopted the insult as a symbol of protest, turning it into a satirical identity directed against the judicial and political establishment.
Watch | Students breached police barricades during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest near Statesman House in Delhi. Police used batons to disperse the protesters.#LathiCharge | #StatesmanHouse | #CJPProtest | #DelhiProtest | #ParliamentMarch | #ConnaughtPlace |… pic.twitter.com/EBnrPO8Jra
— United News of India (@uniindianews) July 20, 2026
Lack of Opportunities Fuels the Protest
The movement is demanding the resignation of Education Minister Pradhan, whom it holds politically responsible for the leaks and irregularities reported in several official examinations.
Among them is the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test for Undergraduate courses (NEET-UG), one of the country’s most competitive examinations. These exams not only determine admission to universities or access to public-sector jobs, but also represent one of the few avenues of social mobility for millions of young people.
As a result, any suspicion of leaks, manipulation or unfair advantage directly undermines confidence in the merit-based nature of these examinations.
The Protest Takes to the Streets
The outrage expressed on social media crystallized into the CJP, a satirical page created by Indian student Abhijeet Dipke that gained more than 22 million followers on Instagram within days.
In recent weeks Dipke has taken the protest to Jantar Mantar, New Delhi’s main protest site, and to other cities across the country. From there, he called for a march to the Indian Parliament to increase political pressure on the government.
Police restricted demonstrations to the designated protest area and deployed extensive security measures to prevent protesters from advancing.
Police attack Cockroach activists as thousands march on Indian parliament
Thousands of protesters braved tear gas and baton charges in their largest challenge yet to PM Modi’s government.
The march on Monday by the protesters who ironically call themselves the Cockroach Janta… pic.twitter.com/ftnWu0AeEi
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) July 20, 2026
What Role Does Activist Sonam Wangchuk Play?
Sonam Wangchuk is not part of the CJP’s original core, but his involvement gave the movement a nationally recognized figure.
An activist from the Ladakh region, engineer, and education reformer, he won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018, often regarded as Asia’s Nobel Prize, for his work in education, sustainability, and community development.
Wangchuk began a hunger strike demanding the resignation of the education minister and became one of the most visible faces of the protest. His case connected student demands with a form of pressure deeply rooted in Indian history: fasting as a moral protest.
Last Saturday, police forcibly transferred him to a hospital in New Delhi after 21 days of a hunger strike sustained only by water and salt, further intensifying the movement.
What the Cockroaches Exposed
The Cockroaches movement reflects the concerns of a massive young population competing for a limited number of educational opportunities, public-sector jobs, and avenues for social advancement.
For millions of families, national examinations represent the promise of upward mobility based on merit. Consequently, leaks or irregularities are perceived as a breach of trust in the system that is supposed to guarantee equal opportunity in a country of more than 1.4 billion people.
That frustration coexists with a labor market that is not absorbing young people at the same pace. According to official data, the overall unemployment rate stood at 3.1% in 2025, but reached 9.9% among people between the ages of 15 and 29.
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