Why are thousands protesting for education reform in India?

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played

Watch: From hundreds to thousands: How India's 'cockroach' protest movement has grown

In India, tens of thousands of Gen Z protesters have taken to the streets of the capital Delhi, calling for the resignation of the country's education minister.

Starting as a satirical online movement just a couple of months ago, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is now one of India's most visible youth movements.

Despite its humorous origins, the CJP quickly became a lightning rod for disaffected young people in India, where there is high youth unemployment.

Despite its name, it's not a party. The movement is led by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old political communications strategist and former student at Boston University.

He told the BBC it started as a joke. "I thought we should all come together, maybe just start a platform."

But after offering the option to sign up to the movement through a Google form, he received tens of thousands of responses.

This propelled it forward into becoming a serious protest group, and on 9 July it announced a march to parliament to take place on 20 July. Thousands turned out in Delhi. Hundreds also attended protests and candle-lit vigils in other cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and Goa.

The protest took on added significance because of the treatment of Sonam Wangchuk , a well-known engineer and activist.

He went on hunger strike on 28 June in support of the CJP at Jantar Mantar, a 300-year-old observatory in central Delhi, which is often the site of protests.

On Saturday, the 59-year-old was forcibly taken to hospital , prompting outrage from CJP supporters and drawing further attention to the protest movement. He has continued fasting in hospital.

Image source, Reuters Image caption, CJP supporters have called for the release of Sonam Wangchuk

The name of the Cockroach Janta Party (the Cockroach People's Party) came about in response to comments made by India's Chief Justice, Surya Kant.

During a hearing in May, he allegedly compared unemployed young people drifting towards journalism and activism to cockroaches and parasites.

He later clarified that he had been referring specifically to people with "fake and bogus degrees", not India's youth more broadly.

The name is a parody of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power since 2014.

Spilling off the internet and into real life, young volunteers to the movement have turned up dressed as cockroaches at clean-up drives and protests.

Image source, Reuters What does the CJP want? The CJP is mostly protesting over issues they have with India's education system.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is India's main entrance exam for admission to medical colleges across the country.

Nearly 2.28 million candidates sat the exam on 3 May, having studied for months - in some cases years - for the notoriously difficult paper. However, days later, it was cancelled after allegations that the questions had been leaked.

It was a big blow to aspirants, who had to resit the exam under tight security weeks later. Anger over this was one of the reasons the CJP began its protest.

It and families have also alleged that some 20 students died by suicide due to distress after the exam was cancelled.

The NEET exam was also hit by controversies in 2024.

The CJP is calling for the education system to be overhauled, with greater accountability over alleged exam paper leaks and for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign.

Following the treatment of Wangchuk over the weekend, CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke also called on Modi to resign.

Image source, EPA Image caption, Abhijeet Dipke began a hunger strike following the detainment of Sonam Wangchuk. He ended his fast on Monday

While it is unclear whether the CJP will achieve its aims of having the education minister removed and the education system overhauled, it has had a major impact on India.

Monday's protest was the largest in the Indian capital against Modi's government in recent years.

The movement has also drawn support from a number of opposition politicians.

Reacting to images from Monday's protest, Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge described police baton-charging protesting students as an "attack on democracy".

Mahua Moitra, an MP from the All India Trinamool Congress, joined the protesters on Monday morning before attending parliament.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has also voiced support for the students and protesters who gathered in Delhi, saying they should be treated with respect.

On Tuesday, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi questioned Modi's silence over the crackdown and asking him to apologise to students.

Indian activist on hunger strike for 20 days forcibly taken to hospital