An activist has ended his 26-day hunger strike that helped to galvanize India’s youth-led “Cockroach” protests, turning them into one of the most sustained challenges to the country’s leadership in years.
But demonstrators vowed Friday to press on despite Sonam Wangchuk’s decision to end his fast, as the protests spread from New Dehli to other cities around the country including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
Wangchuk’s fast began amid protests for education reforms after alleged leaks in some of the country’s most competitive university entrance exams, but quickly became a lightning rod for public anger over education, economic inequality and the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Wangchuk said in a post on X that he ended his fast after appeals from dozens of members of Parliament and following “a long negotiation on various conditions and in view of possible violence in the country.” Conceding that not all his demands were met, he said two federal lawmakers were present when he finished.
However, Abhijeet Dipke, a Boston University graduate and founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), said the protests will continue until India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.
“After all of this, we don’t accept anything less than a resignation,” he told supporters on Friday as protests showed no sign of dying down. CJP leaders have said they started talks with government officials at a neutral venue, raising hopes of a breakthrough in the standoff.
The CJP began as a satirical youth political movement after India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant compared unemployed young people to “cockroaches.” But the movement has soared in popularity and mounted the biggest challenge to Modi in his 12 years in power.
On Thursday night, Modi offered his first public comments, posting a video on Instagram addressing the young protesters and concerns about the exam paper leaks.
“I know the paper leak is not a trivial matter,” he said in his video. He also defended his government’s decision to let 2 million students retake medical entrance exams.
He also announced fast-track courts would prosecute cases involving examination paper leaks.
But protesters said his response fell short of their demands for accountability and hundreds of people returned to the streets of New Delhi on Friday even as authorities shut 18 stations the city’s metro network, disrupting a vital mode of transportation for its 23 million residents.
The protest movement was galvanized last week, as pictures emerged of Wangchuk, whom police forcefully admitted to a hospital on Saturday, looking frail.
Anger was further fueled by what was perceived as a muted response from the government about the protesters demands, which included compensation for the families of students who died by suicide after the exam paper leaks.
On Monday, as CJP representatives held an initial round of talks with a senior government official, police used batons and tear gas in an attempt to stop demonstrators from marching toward the parliament. Dozens of people were injured and arrested.
Since then, the protests have only grown and spread across the country, leaving Modi’s government scrambling to quell them.
Protesters reported internet shutdowns in several parts of the Indian capital, especially around Jantar Mantar, an 18th-century observatory and site for several historic protests. Demonstration organizers have been using the Signal messaging app to coordinate themselves.
Others have relied on Bitchat, an app that allows communication even without internet, using peer-to-peer Bluetooth connections.
Bitchat’s founder, Jack Dorsey, who also co-founded Twitter, said Thursday that the Indian government had ordered its takedown under an IT law that critics say is frequently used to stifle online dissent.
Protesters have nonetheless turned out in numbers, despite clashes with police and numerous roadblocks being placed around New Delhi.
CJP founder, Dipke, said even larger crowds were expected to turn out on the weekend.
