Opposition parties shut down Indian parliament in solidarity with ‘cockroach’ protests | India
India’s opposition parties have shut down parliament in a protest demanding the resignation of the education minister, in solidarity with the new youth-led “cockroach” movement.
Opposition politicians led by Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi gathered outside the parliament building in Delhi on Wednesday; Many of them were dressed in black and waving banners calling for Dharmendra Pradhan to resign.
Hearings in the parliament chamber were suspended after opposition figures demanded that Narendra Modi’s ruling government address police brutality against youth and scandals affecting key exams at a protest on Monday.
The previous day, Gandhi was briefly detained by the police after staging a sit-in protest in front of Modi’s house and accusing the prime minister of “destroying the future of India’s youth”.
Gandhi’s sister Priyanka, a senior strategist for the Congress party, was also briefly detained on Tuesday. Police later confirmed they had been released.
The opposition protests in Parliament were in support of a new mass youth movement known as the Cockroach Janata party (CJP), which started as a satirical joke online but has grown into a major political challenge against the Modi government.
On Monday, CJP organized one of the largest anti-government protests in recent years. Dozens of people were injured as the police used tear gas and batons against the demonstrators.
Despite the exhausting heat and humidity, more than 1,000 people remained camped at CJP’s protest site in central Delhi on Wednesday. Many of the protesters had traveled miles to get there and had vowed not to move until the education minister resigned and the Modi government listened to their demands.
Food deliveries sent by supporters, some ordered from abroad, continued to arrive, keeping protesters well fed with biryani, pizza, rice and dal. Spirits remained high as slogans and songs were played throughout the site.
Pradhanarose’s resignation, following CJP’s demands for changes in the education system and repeated exams-related scandals, however, grew into a larger movement voicing the frustrations of India’s youth.
More than 50,000 people were estimated to protest in Delhi on Monday, although police did not give permission to march to parliament. It started as a peaceful demonstration, but by the afternoon police began clashing with protesters.
Police announced that 60 civilians and 118 police personnel were injured and accused the protesters of provoking clashes. But organizers condemned “bullying” by authorities and said hundreds of peaceful protesters had been injured by police; Among them is at least one woman who is currently in intensive care on a ventilator due to her injuries.
The Congress accused the Modi government of refusing to address students’ issues and alleged “atrocities on students” in Parliament.
On Tuesday, Gandhi said: “The government does not want to take any responsibility and does not want to have a debate on this issue in parliament.”
Protests in support of the CJP movement were also held in Mumbai and Bengaluru and were attended by hundreds of people.
Modi did not comment directly on the protests, but the education minister, who called CJP protesters “the B team of terrorists”, struck a more conciliatory tone in his first comments since Monday’s protests.
Pradhan said in his social media post: “We owe them [students] answers, reforms and accountability. This is exactly what our government is determined to achieve.
Referring to Gandhi’s protest, he added: “Students in India deserve much better than being treated as props for a political campaign.”
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CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday appealed to protesters not to lose hope. “They want to break our spirit,” he said from a truck. “Don’t let them silence you.”
Several major opposition parties, including the Congress, issued statements in support of the student movement and condemned police brutality against Monday’s protest.
Sandeep Dikshit, a senior leader of the Congress party, said: “What happened yesterday was a violation of our constitution. From now on, no self-respecting politician or citizen can stand aside.”
