India’s opposition parties have shut down parliament in a protest calling for the resignation of the education minister, in solidarity with the new youth-led “cockroach” movement.
Opposition politicians, led by the Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, gathered outside the parliament building in Delhi on Wednesday, many dressed in black and waving placards calling on Dharmendra Pradhan to quit.
Inside the parliament chamber, proceedings were suspended after opposition figures demanded that Narendra Modi’s ruling government address the police violence against young people at a protest on Monday, and the scandals that have engulfed crucial exams.
The previous day, Gandhi had been briefly detained by police after staging a sit-in outside Modi’s residence, accusing the prime minister of “destroying the future of India’s youth”.
Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka, a senior Congress party strategist, was also briefly detained on Tuesday. Police confirmed they were later released.
The opposition protests at parliament were in support of a new mass youth movement, known as the Cockroach Janata party (CJP), that began as a satirical online joke but has grown into a significant political challenge to the Modi government.
On Monday, the CJP held one of the biggest anti-government protests in years. Dozens of people were injured after police used teargas and baton charges against the demonstrators.
More than 1,000 people remained camped out at the CJP’s protest site in central Delhi on Wednesday despite the gruelling heat and humidity. Many of the protesters had travelled for miles to be there and vowed they would not move until the education minister had resigned and the Modi government listened to their demands.
Food deliveries sent by supporters – some ordered from abroad – have continued to arrive, keeping the protesters well fed on biryani, pizza, rice and dal. Morale remained high as slogans and songs rang out across the site.
“In the country where people had forgotten how to ask questions, in the country where criticising the government was considered treason – we have now awakened that country,” said CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka, to loud cheers from the crowd.
The CJP’s demands for changes to the education system and the resignation of Pradhan arose after repeated scandals over testing, but it has grown into a larger movement giving voice to the frustration’s of India’s youth.
It was estimated that more than 50,000 people had protested in Delhi on Monday, even though the police denied them permission to march on parliament. It began as a peaceful demonstration, but by late afternoon police began to clash with the protesters.
Police said 60 civilians and 118 police personnel had been injured, and they accused protesters of instigating the clashes.
But organisers condemned the “high-handedness” of the authorities and said hundreds of peaceful protesters had been injured by the police, including at least one woman now on a ventilator in intensive care from her injuries.
Amnesty International have accused Delhi police of using police excessive force. India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear a petition alleging police brutality against the protesters.
Congress accused the Modi government of refusing to address the issues of the students and the alleged “brutality unleashed on students” in parliament.
“The government doesn’t want to take any accountability, nor does it want to have a debate on it in parliament,” said Gandhi.
Protests supporting the CJP movement were also held in Mumbai and Bengaluru, drawing hundreds of people.
Modi has not commented directly on the protests, but the education minister, who had dismissed the CJP protesters as a “B-team of terrorists”, took a more conciliatory tone in his first comments since Monday’s protests.
In a social media post, Pradhan said: “We owe them [students] answers, reforms and accountability. That is exactly what our government remains committed to delivering.
He added: “The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign,” he said, referring to Gandhi’s protest.
Several key opposition parties have come out in support of the students’ movement and condemned the police violence against Monday’s protest.
Sandeep Dikshit, a senior leader of the Congress party, said: “What happened yesterday is our constitution got trampled upon. After that, no self-respecting politician or citizen can stand aside.”
