Police fired tear gas and charged protesters with batons in central New Delhi on Monday as thousands of supporters of India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party tried to march on parliament despite a police ban, while movement leaders said they were heading into talks with senior federal minister J.P. Nadda.
The movement, which amassed 22 million Instagram followers within days of its formation in May after mass exam paper leaks affected millions of students, is demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and financial compensation for families of students who died by suicide following the testing irregularities. Police had issued orders banning all assemblies of five or more persons across New Delhi ahead of the opening of parliament’s monsoon session, with limited exceptions at the Jantar Mantar observatory where protesters have camped for more than three weeks.
A spokesperson for the Cockroach Janta Party told Reuters on Sunday the march was happening for sure. The movement was further galvanised after police forcibly moved hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk to a government hospital on Saturday against his wishes. A Delhi court on Sunday ruled authorities were within their rights to hospitalise Wangchuk given his deteriorating health, though the ruling drew sharp criticism from the movement’s supporters.
The march coincides with the first day of parliament’s monsoon session, maximising pressure on the government to address the exam scandal.
