Indian education minister resigns following protests

Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned, handing a major victory to young protesters across the country who were demanding his resignation to take responsibility for the exam papers leak.

The minister announced his resignation on Saturday, hours before his leaders were due to hold a new round of talks with ministers, as police used tear gas to disperse young protesters in New Delhi.

In a post on he wrote.

“I deeply respect the desires, feelings and legitimate expectations of the country’s youth.”

As the news spread, cheers rose among the thousands of protesters who gathered in central Delhi and elsewhere.

“We did it,” said Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, which is spearheading the protests, as he cheered loudly at the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi.

Youths in the area shouted “Jai Hind”, a patriotic slogan meaning “Glory to India”.

Thousands of supporters of India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement have been protesting since June, but anger flared further on Monday as police used batons and tear gas to deter crowds of protesters marching to parliament, injuring dozens of students.

The protests, largely led by young people and triggered by discontent over leaks of question papers for high-stakes entrance exams, reflect anger over job shortages, corruption and government accountability.

Even on Saturday, federal authorities restricted access to the internet and 18 metro stations in an attempt to contain the protest in New Delhi.