India’s ‘cockroach’ protest movement halts marches after police violence

Leaders of the movement say they will continue campaigning but will not stage another march through New Delhi.A supporter of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) poses next to a message along a street after clashing with police during a protest in New Delhi, July 20, 2026 [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]Published On 21 Jul 2026Leaders of India’s “cockroach movement” say they will continue to protest against the government but will refrain from further rallies through the streets of New Delhi because of concerns about the safety of their supporters after a violent police response when more than 10,000 people tried to march to parliament.“We will not march again because the police will hurt the youth again,” Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke said at a news conference on Tuesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Won’t back down’: Indian student protesters return after police crackdownlist 2 of 4‘Now or never’: Students defy Delhi lockdown to march on India’s parliamentlist 3 of 4Photos: Police fire tear gas at India’s Cockroach movement supporterslist 4 of 4Chaos in India as ‘Cockroach activists’ march on parliamentend of listHe said 150 protesters were wounded by police who fired tear gas and beat activists with canes and batons during Monday’s march.The movement will continue to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who it said must be held accountable for flaws in the education system.The movement emerged after a leak of exam papers that forced 2.2 million aspiring doctors to retake their exams, reportedly contributing to at least 12 students dying by suicide. The CJP is calling for compensation of 10 million rupees ($104,000) for each family of the students who took their own lives after the leak.“We won’t stop. Pradhan has to be sacked,” the CJP’s Ashutosh Ranka said.⁠Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and his ⁠sister Priyanka along with members ⁠of their Indian National Congress party, staged a protest outside Prime Minister Narendra ‌Modi’s house, videos shared by the party showed on Tuesday.“We have marched to PM ⁠Modi’s house to ⁠demand answers from him for the brutalities against ⁠young students yesterday,” ⁠Rahul Gandhi posted ⁠on X.The rights group Amnesty International said in a statement late on Monday that the police action showed “how peaceful dissent is being suppressed in India.”“They beat us black and blue, and they damaged our protest site,” Sahil Singh, a protester from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, told the Reuters news agency. “We want accountability to be set with Pradhan’s resignation.”The number of protesters who marched on Monday was larger than expected, partly due to widespread anger after veteran 59-year-old activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on hunger strike for three weeks in solidarity with the CJP, was seized by police and hospitalised against his will.The Delhi ⁠High ⁠Court ruled on Tuesday that Wangchuk could be moved ⁠from a government hospital to a private healthcare facility after his ⁠wife petitioned the court, alleging he was being held in “illegal detention”, the legal news website Bar and Bench ‌said.About 200 protesters gathered at the CJP protest site at Jantar Mantar in central New Delhi on Tuesday morning, chanting slogans under a monsoon drizzle.Paramilitary personnel continued to patrol central parts of India’s capital, and barricades were restricting traffic.Cockroach Janta Party protesters try to neutralise a tear gas shell fired by police as they try to march towards India’s Parliament in New Delhi on July 20, 2026 [Prakash Singh/AP Photo]Delhi police said nearly 180 people – 60 protesters and 118 security and police personnel – were injured in Monday’s clashes. Police also said 70 protesters were detained and legal action would be initiated against them.Multiple videos of Monday’s clashes show police attacking protesters, but no footage has emerged of any violence by the marchers.The CJP and its supporters remain hopeful that they may change the status quo. A representative said on Monday that a federal minister had promised the government would consider their demands.On Tuesday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said: “I think when the talks are going on in a right direction, the atmosphere should not be vitiated.”The CJP’s campaign initially began online with viral satirical memes mocking the government, and it quickly amassed millions of followers on social media. It has since morphed into a movement able to mobilise thousands on the streets, as Monday’s march demonstrated.After the chief justice of India’s Supreme Court likened some unemployed young people to “cockroaches”, the protesters adopted the insult as the name of their movement.