India is seeing its largest youth-led protest movement in years. It began with a leaked national medical entrance exam (NEET) in May 2026 that affected millions of students, and grew after India’s Chief Justice was widely reported to have compared unemployed young people to "cockroaches" and "parasites" during a court hearing. Young Indians adopted the insult as a badge of honor and formed the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a parody of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). What started as memes is now a nationwide sit-in movement demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and accountability for exam corruption. On July 20, police used tear gas and batons on thousands of marchers heading toward Parliament, injuring about 180 people by police count. The movement has drawn solidarity demonstrations from the Indian diaspora in the UK, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Washington, D.C.

Timeline of key events
•    May 2026: NEET medical entrance exam paper leak surfaces, affecting millions of aspirants and reviving years of anger over recurring exam leaks and high youth unemployment.

•    May 15: During a Supreme Court hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant makes remarks widely reported as likening unemployed youth to cockroaches and parasites.

•    May 16: Abhijeet Dipke, a political communications strategist who formerly worked with the Aam Aadmi Party, founds the Cockroach Janta Party as satire. Within days it gains over 350,000 sign-ups and more than 20 million Instagram followers. A student wing, the Cockroach Students’ Union of India, promotes affordable education, exam transparency, and peaceful democratic protest.

•    Late June: CJP holds its first major offline action, a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, the capital’s designated protest site. Dipke camps at the site and vows to stay until the education minister resigns.

•    June 28: Sonam Wangchuk, the 59-year-old engineer and education reformer who inspired a character in the film 3 Idiots, begins an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the students.

•    July 18: On roughly day 20 of the fast, Delhi Police forcibly remove Wangchuk to a hospital, citing his deteriorating health. Dipke announces his own indefinite hunger strike the same day, calling the removal a grave mistake.

•    July 20: Thousands march toward Parliament. Police respond with tear gas and batons. Delhi Police report nearly 180 injured, including 118 security personnel and 60 protesters. Footage of police beating young protesters spreads widely and fuels further outrage. The same day, Health Minister J.P. Nadda briefly meets CJP spokespeople, the government’s first outreach to the movement.

•    July 21: Protesters at Jantar Mantar vow to continue the sit-in under heavy police presence until the education minister resigns.

Who is involved
•    Cockroach Janta Party (CJP): A satirical, unregistered youth movement founded in May 2026. Its name parodies the ruling BJP. Its stated causes are exam integrity, jobs, and accountability. Slogan: "Voice of the Lazy & Unemployed."

•    Abhijeet Dipke: CJP founder and president, around 30, a Boston University graduate and former Aam Aadmi Party communications strategist. Leading the Jantar Mantar sit-in; began an indefinite hunger strike July 18.

•    Sonam Wangchuk: Renowned engineer, educator, and climate activist from Ladakh, previously known for hunger strikes seeking statehood and Sixth Schedule protections for Ladakh. His June 28 fast in solidarity with the students, and his forcible hospitalization on July 18, turned the protests into national and international news.

•    Dharmendra Pradhan: India’s Union Education Minister. The movement’s central demand is his resignation over the exam leaks.

•    Government response: Officials have portrayed the movement harshly (one BJP leader called protesters people who want to hollow out the country), while police have confined protests to Jantar Mantar, dispersed the Parliament march with force, and hospitalized hunger strikers. The July 20 meeting with the health minister was the first sign of dialogue.

What the protesters are asking for
1.    Resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET and exam leak failures.

2.    Credible, independent investigation into exam paper leaks and accountability for those responsible.

3.    Structural reform of the examination and recruitment system: transparency, fairness, and integrity.

4.    An end to the use of force against peaceful protesters, and release of detained activists.

5.    Genuine dialogue between the government and the protesters, including the hunger strikers.

Why this resonates beyond the exam scandal
Analysts quoted in coverage point to deeper drivers: persistently high youth unemployment despite rapid economic growth, rising cost of living, and a 12-year stretch of BJP rule that critics say has narrowed space for dissent and civil society. The protests are described across outlets as a rare, large-scale show of defiance against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, powered by Gen Z social media culture rather than traditional opposition parties.

Global solidarity so far
•    United Kingdom (July 20): Hundreds gathered outside the Indian High Commission in London under the slogan "Cockroaches of London Unite," organized by the South Asia Solidarity Group, Students’ Federation of India UK, and the India Workers’ Association. Parallel demonstrations were held in Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, with earlier student actions in Leeds.

•    Continental Europe (July 20): Solidarity gatherings were shared from Berlin, Ireland, and the Netherlands, with participants calling for accountability and transparency.

•    Washington, D.C. (July 17): Hindus for Human Rights and The Azadi Project held a solidarity gathering at the Mahatma Gandhi statue near the Embassy of India (21st and Q Streets NW), supporting Wangchuk and urging the Indian government to engage the protesters. Hindus for Human Rights also sent an open letter to Prime Minister Modi calling for a substantive response and a time-bound accountability process.

To His Excellency the Ambassador of India to the United States, with the respectful request that this statement be conveyed to the Government of India:

We are students, educators, and community members in the Washington, D.C. region. Many of us are members of the Indian diaspora; all of us believe in the promise of India’s democracy.

We have watched with concern as millions of young Indians face the consequences of leaked national examinations, and as peaceful protesters at Jantar Mantar, including hunger strikers, have been met with force. We were moved by the students, and by Sonam Wangchuk, whose fast for education integrity has inspired solidarity from London to Berlin to Washington.

We write not against India but for it. A confident democracy answers its young people with dialogue, not batons. Accordingly, we respectfully call on the Government of India to:

1. End the use of force against peaceful protesters and ensure the safety and medical care of all hunger strikers;

2. Establish a credible, independent, time-bound investigation into the examination paper leaks, with public accountability for those responsible;

3. Enter into genuine dialogue with the protesting students and their representatives;

4. Protect the constitutional right of Indian citizens to assemble peacefully, a right India’s own freedom movement, symbolized by Mahatma Gandhi, gifted to the world.

We gather peacefully, lawfully, and respectfully outside the Embassy of India because we believe this is what democratic disagreement should look like, in Washington and in New Delhi alike.