Exam paper leak, protests and Gandhi siblings' arrest — India's 'cockr

Thousands of supporters of India’s self-styled “cockroach” youth movement have been camped in New Delhi, pressing for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in what has become one of the biggest public challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the start of his third term.

The unrest was triggered by the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, or NEET, after the exam’s question papers were found to have been leaked. Around two million students across India took the undergraduate medical entrance test on May 3 before it was scrapped and later retaken in June. The fallout has been severe, with the feed summary linking the cancellation to about a dozen student suicides.

NEET is a crucial exam in India’s higher education system. It is the only entry route into undergraduate medical courses nationwide, and every year millions of students compete for fewer than 150,000 seats. That fierce competition has long made it one of the country’s toughest exams, while also reflecting wider pressure points in the education system, where limited places push students into years of preparation, exhaustion and debt.

Exam leaks are not new in India. The feed summary says question paper leaks have happened before, including in NEET in 2024, though no re-test was ordered then. Other papers, including those for police constable and teacher recruitment, have also been compromised in the past. This year’s episode, however, landed amid the rise of the Cockroach Janta Party, a satire-driven online movement that drew millions of Instagram followers within days of appearing in mid-May.

According to the feed, the movement struck a chord with younger Indians, especially people under 30, who form more than half the country’s population and face high unemployment. Its rapid rise helped channel anger over the leak into street protest, turning exam frustration into a broader political challenge.

The government has tried to defuse the anger. Pradhan has said officials are committed to addressing youth concerns and promised reforms to the exam system. Modi has also pledged punishment for those responsible for the leak. On Monday, Health Minister JP Nadda met protesters and asked for time to discuss their demands.

Those demands now extend beyond the exam itself. Protesters are also seeking the release of fasting activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was taken to hospital last week, and compensation of 10 million Indian rupees each for students who died by suicide after the leak.

Tensions escalated two days ago when tens of thousands of protesters trying to march on parliament were met with tear gas and baton charges. Since then, thousands have remained at the sit-in site in New Delhi, with movement leaders saying they will stay until their demands are met.

The political fallout is widening. Opposition parties, including the Congress party, have said they will take up the issue inside and outside parliament, seeing it as a chance to put pressure on Modi’s government over a grievance with deep appeal among young voters. On Tuesday, police detained opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi and several other senior lawmakers after they refused to end a protest outside the prime minister’s residence, before releasing them later.

This report is based on a monitored public feed. Source attribution follows below.

Source: Dawn Home - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017491/exam-paper-leak-protests-and-gandhi-siblings-arrest-indias-cockroach-youth-movement-explained