India’s Cockroach Janta Party Movement Vows to Continue After Police Clash

India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party says it will continue its protest campaign but will avoid further street marches, a day after clashes with Delhi police left nearly 180 people injured.

Delhi Police said the injured included 118 security and police personnel and 60 protesters, with 70 protesters detained and legal action pending against them.

The confrontation unfolded Monday when thousands of protesters — organizers estimated more than 10,000 — attempted to march toward Parliament despite police barricades, bans, and a heavy security presence. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges to disperse the crowd. Multiple videos of the clash show police striking protesters, though no footage has surfaced showing violence originating from the marchers themselves, a point independent reporting has noted directly.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told reporters Tuesday the movement would not march again, citing safety concerns for young supporters after Monday’s police response. He said roughly 150 protesters were wounded by tear gas and baton strikes, and reaffirmed the movement’s core demand: the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over failures tied to the National Eligibility Entrance Test paper leaks, which have disrupted university admissions for millions of students.

Despite halting marches, supporters have refused to abandon their sit-in at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in central Delhi, with hundreds camping under heavy police presence. One 20-year-old student protester told reporters the confrontation had only strengthened her resolve to stay until the government meets the movement’s demands.

The protest, which started roughly two months ago as online satire mocking government inefficiency, has grown into what reporting describes as the most significant public challenge Prime Minister Modi has faced during his third term, drawing students, professionals, and families rather than remaining a narrow campus issue. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has separately criticized the police response, framing it as symptomatic of a government that prioritizes political self-preservation over addressing the education system’s failures.

Delhi Police has pushed back on characterizations of excessive force, denying any sporadic use of violence against protesters despite widely circulated video and photo evidence appearing to show baton strikes against demonstrators. That dispute over the record — police denial against documented footage — is likely to remain a contested point as rights groups and opposition politicians continue scrutinizing the department’s conduct.

Whether the government responds to the resignation demand, or whether the sit-in at Jantar Mantar continues indefinitely without a policy shift, will likely determine if this movement sustains its current momentum or gradually loses steam without a change in strategy or a corresponding government concession.