NEW DELHI: What began as a satirical online response to remarks attributed to the chief justice of India spilled onto the streets of the capital on Saturday, three weeks later, with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke leading a protest to demand the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in examinations.While the protest passed off peacefully, with scores in attendance, CJP said it would wait for a week for the Centre to sack Pradhan or seek his resignation. “If no action is taken, this movement will spread across the country,” a CJP statement said.Posting visuals of a packed protest site on his social media handle, Dipke wrote: “They said cockroaches won’t come on ground”.Dipke landed in Delhi from Boston Saturday morning. Supporters had been told to gather outside Parliament Street Police station, but the call was modified after police granted permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar even before Dipke exited IGI.
Not just Gen Z, CJP protest draws cross-gen crowd too
Supporters had started gathering outside Parliament Street police station by then, and repeated announcements were made by the police asking them to shift to Jantar Mantar. Heavy police deployment, including RAF personnel, and multiple layers of barricades were put in place around the area. Water cannons were on standby.The crowd kept swelling as the hours passed. By 11 am, the site was packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Characterised as a Gen Z movement, theprotest at Jantar Mantar, however, drew people across generations. Besides schoolchildren and college students, parents, job aspirants, working professionals and octogenarians joined scores at the agitation. The common refrain: the system has become increasingly unaccountable, and repeated examination leaks have eroded public trust in institutions. Elderly citizens, professionals and farmers’ children travelled from different states to participate.Environment activist Sonam Wangchuk was also present alongside CJP members and supporters. Wangchuk had earlier announced that he would undertake a six-week fast if Dipke was arrested.People carrying the Tricolour, copies of the Constitution and other books and placards demanding accountability gathered peacefully. Several participants wore cockroach masks, carried flowers and sported T-shirts bearing the movement’s symbol. Chants of “Vande Mataram”, “sharm karo” and “Dharmendra Pradhan istifa do” echoed through the venue as supporters awaited Dipke’s arrival. The demonstration also received backing from university campuses, with members of various student unions and student groups turning up in support.The protest ended around 3.30pm after Dipke started feeling unwell.BJP called it “negative politics” while Congress said its youth wing had done much more for the cause of students. The movement has been backed by AAP, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Left parties, among others.Pandurang Jadhav, 50, who travelled over 1,300km from Pune to participate in the protest, said he feared for the future of his two sons, aged 17 and 21. “My children have lost faith in the system. Every few months there is some controversy — sometimes a paper leak, other times glitches in the CBSE system. I came here for their future,” said Jadhav, a financial analyst.Sajeev Kumar, 24, from Jaunpur, said he changed multiple trains and travelled for nearly 10 hours for the protest.Among the youngest participants was Abhimanyu of Class III who wore a cockroach-style face mask and came with his elder brother. “I only know that there was a paper leak and responsibility should be taken, and the education minister must resign,” he said.Several participants described the protest as extending beyond examination leaks.For 83-year-old retired driver Itwari Lal Mathur, the issue was deeply personal. “Young people are losing hope. Children are suffering because of these failures. Who will bring back the lives that are lost to such pressures?”A brief moment of chaos ensued at the protest site when some men allegedly raised slogans against CJP supporters. Police personnel intervened and detained three individuals.