'This is just the start': India's Gen Z protesters force out a minister, but what next?
The resignation of India's education minister following intense youth-led protests marks a significant shift in the political landscape. Student activists are leveraging social media platforms like Instagram to mobilize and challenge government narratives.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing influence of Gen Z in Indian politics and their ability to use digital tools to bypass traditional media control.
Image source, Getty Image caption, Thousands of people turned out for the protests last week in different Indian cities
In 12 years of Narendra Modi's rule in India , only one cabinet minister had previously resigned - over allegations of sexual misconduct.
So the resignation of education minister , Dharmendra Pradhan, on Saturday after more than a week of intense street demonstrations was a defining moment – and one which many young people were quick to celebrate.
In the words of 22-year-old Sakhi, a student activist in Delhi, "for the first time, it felt like we can make things happen through protests".
Soon after Pradhan quit, social media seized on an old video of a senior Modi minister boasting that "resignations do not happen in our government", reflecting the confidence of the nationwide youth movement that had demanded his exit.
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