NEW DELHI, India: About 10,000 supporters of the India Cockroach protest gathered in the South Asian capital on July 20. They tried to march toward Parliament without police permission.
Television footage showed officers striking some demonstrators with batons near barricades. Delhi Police denied using force and said officers handled the protest professionally. Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma said the authorised site had run out of space. He also stated that crowding could create a safety risk.
The protest coincided with the opening day of Parliament’s monsoon session. Police and paramilitary personnel deployed around Jantar Mantar as demonstrators attempted to move toward the heavily secured parliamentary district.
The mobilisation intensified after police moved activist and engineer Sonam Wangchuk to the hospital on July 18 following a prolonged hunger strike. As a result, thousands of supporters arrived at Jantar Mantar overnight after his hospitalisation.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. They also want the government to take action against recurring examination paper leaks. The supplied report said a leaked national medical entrance test in May affected more than 2 million candidates. Consequently, it forced them to retake the examination.
The movement adopted its name after a Supreme Court judge likened unemployed young people to “cockroaches.” Organisers embraced the term as a protest identity while expanding their campaign beyond social media.
Read: India Cockroach Janta Party Account Faces Crackdown
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das told ANI that organisers remained willing to negotiate with the government. Wangchuk said he would end his fast if authorities accepted responsibility for education-system failures. Alternatively, he asked for lawmakers to formally agree to raise the protesters’ demands.
