India opposition leader Gandhi freed after detention at student-led protest

Demands from young people and Cockroach Janta Party pose one of the biggest challenges to PM Modi’s government.Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been released after he was detained during growing protests over the education system.The protests, which have been led predominantly by students and a social media-driven movement, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Why have India’s Gen Z protesters called for a march to parliament?list 2 of 3India’s cockroach politics is no jokelist 3 of 3Indian activist Wangchuk urged to end hunger strike over exam paper leaksend of listProtesters have called for the resignation of Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a leak of medical school test papers forced more than two million medical students to retake their exams and was linked to at least 12 student suicides.Gandhi and other opposition leaders were detained on Tuesday during a sit-in outside Modi’s residence in New Delhi while accusing the government of ignoring student demands.They also protested against the aggressive response to the student protests, which are demanding educational reform and greater government accountability. Gandhi was released late on Tuesday.Indian police detained Rahul Gandhi and other opposition figures outside of the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday [AFP]In his first comments since protesters marched on parliament on Monday, Pradhan condemned Gandhi’s sit-in in a post on X on Tuesday night, saying he continues “to shamelessly exploit students as political tools to manufacture disruption”.“The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign. They deserve certainty over chaos, solutions over slogans, and responsibility over disruption,” he wrote.