India's 'cockroach' movement ousts minister, but can Modi calm youth?
India's education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned following widespread student protests over nationwide exam paper leaks. The protests, led by a satirical group known as the 'Cockroach Party,' represent a significant challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration.
Why it matters
The resignation highlights growing youth dissatisfaction with government accountability and the integrity of national testing systems in India.
NEW DELHI — India's education minister tendered his resignation on Saturday, meeting a key demand of students whose anti-government protests swelled this week beyond the capital New Delhi and onto the streets of more than a dozen cities.
The students held the minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, responsible for a series of leaks in nationwide exams for university seats or government jobs, which millions of students take every year.
Asia India's Gen Z 'Cockroach People's Party' started as satire but is serious about change The protests posed the most serious challenge to the 12-year rule of India's Hindu nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi. For weeks, the government had ignored the protesters, then vilified them, with the education minister calling protest leaders " the B team of terrorists, " according to the Indian daily The Hindu. Presenters of Modi-loyal media outlets suggested the protest leaders were paid by India's enemy and neighbor, Pakistan.
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