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Pradhan resigns after protests
India’s education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday, a concession that came after days of “Cockroach” youth protests over alleged exam paper leaks and testing irregularities that had swelled beyond New Delhi.
The protests were led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), with CNN reporting that Pradhan “announced his resignation on Saturday” after “tens of thousands of students and supporters took to the streets demanding his removal.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not yet publicly accepted the resignation, CNN said, even as protesters called for accountability after allegations entrance exams for medical schools were leaked and sold.
In New Delhi, BBC reported crowds at Jantar Mantar were “elated after India's education minister stepped down after weeks of protests over exam paper leaks and testing irregularities,” as the movement’s satire evolved into real support on the ground.
The BBC also described the CJP as a group that “started as satire, but ended up gaining real support on the ground,” while AP said protesters were mocking Modi with memes and parody videos as they pressed for accountability and education reforms.
Memes, police, and demands
AP said the “Cockroach” movement’s digital campaign was “largely powered by humor,” with clashes with police becoming viral content as protesters joked about “keeping their Strava streaks alive” while running from police baton charges.
In the same AP account, a 25-year-old protester said the memes were “a way of coping,” adding, “If our phone data runs out, we can’t even bear that. So we’re definitely not going to tolerate this,” referring to Monday’s police crackdown on protesters in the capital.
CNN reported that in the wake of Pradhan’s resignation, the CJP announced it would end its nationwide protests “with immediate effect,” because the government had agreed to demands including compensation for families of students who, according to Indian media reports, took their own lives.
Euronews said Pradhan posted his resignation on X and that he wrote, “I have sent my resignation letter to the prime minister,” while the CJP said it was calling off protests centered on the Jantar Mantar demonstration site in central New Delhi.
NPR added that a spokesman for protest leaders Saurav Das called on demonstrators to go home, saying the protests would end “in good faith,” after Pradhan’s resignation met a key demand tied to leaks in nationwide exams for university seats or government jobs.
What comes next for Modi
Al Jazeera reported that after the CJP called off its agitation following Pradhan’s resignation, silence descended over Jantar Mantar and Parliament Street in central New Delhi at midnight, while authorities moved in with paint rollers and buckets to scrub remnants of the Gen Z revolt from the walls.
Al Jazeera said two central demands remained even as some demands “came about and fizzled out,” including compensation for families of students who died by suicide due to paper leaks and exam cancellations that affected millions of students across India.
DW said Modi announced a special task force to overhaul India’s examination system, quoting him on Instagram that “Our examination system should be trustworthy, should be transparent and the system should make maximum use of technology,” and that new legislation would be introduced in Parliament on Monday.
DW also reported that the panel would be led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, and that the demonstrations drew thousands to New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar site and became one of the largest anti-government protests in India in recent years.
In the BBC’s account of the celebration, the outlet described crowds at Jantar Mantar as “elated,” while CNN framed Pradhan’s resignation as “a major victory for young protesters” and a “rare defeat for the government,” leaving Modi facing a new test of whether the promised reforms can satisfy the movement’s demands.
