Modi Government Faces Growing Pressure as International Media Highlight CJP Protest Crackdown

International outlets have documented an escalating security response to India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party protests, with Al Jazeera reporting police used pellet guns against demonstrators during last week’s crackdown — a tactic the outlet’s reporting describes as deployed in the national capital for the first time. Al Jazeera’s video coverage cited more than 100 injured students, with some hit by the pellet guns.

A separate Al Jazeera feature on the demonstrations described a New Delhi police officer striking a female protester with a baton, along with what the report characterized as potential use of lethal pellet guns by a paramilitary force deployed alongside regular police — footage the outlet said flooded social media after police denied allegations of excessive force following the July 20 crackdown. That same report noted at least 200 people were injured by the end of the parliament march, according to Al Jazeera’s opinion coverage of the events.

The protests, which began in May after India’s Supreme Court chief justice compared unemployed young people to “cockroaches” during an unrelated hearing, have grown substantially since students embraced the remark as a satirical movement name. Al Jazeera reported the movement gained further momentum after police forcibly hospitalized 59-year-old hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk, drawing crowds exceeding 100,000 people into central Delhi despite metro station closures, road barricades, and internet restrictions imposed by authorities.

The Associated Press reported that Prime Minister Modi has pledged to establish fast-track courts to prosecute those responsible for exam paper leaks, marking his first public response to the escalating protests. CJP has rejected the offer as insufficient, arguing it addresses only prosecution after leaks occur rather than the underlying causes.

Significantly, the movement’s demands have expanded beyond the original call for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Al Jazeera reported that protesters this week began also calling for the resignations of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah — a marked escalation from the movement’s original, narrower education-focused grievance.

Delhi Police have disputed characterizations of excessive force, saying nearly 180 people — 60 protesters and 118 security personnel — were injured in Monday’s clashes, with 70 protesters detained and legal action pending. Al Jazeera’s reporting noted that despite this police account, multiple videos from the clashes show officers attacking protesters, while no footage has emerged showing violence originating from the demonstrators themselves.

The gap between Delhi Police’s public statements and the documented video evidence circulating on social media and cited by international outlets has become a central point of contention as the story continues developing, with rights advocates and opposition figures pointing to that gap as evidence of accountability gaps in how domestic authorities are characterizing their own conduct. Whether continued international scrutiny of the crackdown affects the government’s approach, or whether the standoff between the movement’s demands and the state’s security response continues escalating, will likely shape how this story develops in the days ahead.