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India’s education minister resigned Saturday after escalating nationwide “Cockroach” demonstrations and an activist’s 26-day hunger strike demanding his resignation.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Dharmendra Pradhan announced his resignation on X hours before a third round of talks was set to begin between the government and an activist movement, the Cockroach Janta Party, which has demanded major reforms after the handling of an alleged exam paper leak triggered one of India’s biggest displays of public dissent in recent years.“I hold deep respect for the aspirations, sentiments, and rightful expectations of the youth of this country,” Pradhan wrote on X.“Realising the dreams of India’s young generation has been the moral resolve of our political and social life.” “Cockroaches won.
Democracy won!” the CJP, a viral movement that began as an online parody of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said in a post on X.In New Delhi, crowds of students and activists were celebrating in the streets following the announcement, many of them waving India flags.The scandal has been growing since May, when online leaks disrupted the NEET undergraduate exam, the fiercely competitive gateway to India’s medical schools.Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters celebrate the resignation of India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on July 25.Sajjad Hussain / AFP via Getty ImagesAnger among India’s young people has exploded onto the streets in recent weeks, with protests spreading from New Delhi to other cities around the country, including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
Authorities have struggled to contain the growing protests, with police deploying tear gas and batons against the vast crowds close to the country’s Parliament building in New Delhi earlier this week.The CJP, named after a remark from India�...