Thousands of supporters of the youth-led Cockroach movement gathered on Monday to march towards India's Parliament, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan despite police refusing permission for the protest.
Scores of police officers surrounded the barricaded protest site at Jantar Mantar in the heart of New Delhi, raising the prospect of a confrontation just a few kilometres from Parliament if demonstrators pressed ahead with the march.
The crowd included students, professionals and families with young children. Many carried backpacks filled with water and food, expecting a long day, while others waved Indian flags. Police urged protesters to disperse through loudspeakers as the crowd chanted slogans against Pradhan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Cockroach Janta Party emerged in May after the Chief Justice of India compared some unemployed young people to "cockroaches" during an unrelated court hearing. Supporters embraced the remark, turning it into a satirical movement that has since attracted millions of followers on social media.
The movement gained momentum after repeated leaks of high-stakes entrance examinations for medical colleges and government jobs sparked widespread public outrage. It drew further attention after police forcibly moved hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk to hospital on Saturday.
Protesters calling themselves "cockroaches" have been camped at Jantar Mantar for the past month, with members of several student organisations joining Wangchuk's hunger strike. Thousands of supporters have also rallied at universities and in other cities across the country. They are demanding Pradhan's resignation, reforms to the examination system and compensation for the families of students who died by suicide following the paper leaks.
Ahead of the march, Wangchuk said he would end his nearly three-week hunger strike only if the government accepted responsibility for failures in the education system and the examination paper leaks, or if protesters were allowed to march to Parliament and lawmakers pledged to raise the issues in both Houses.
Delhi Police said the march had not been authorised and that restrictions were necessary to maintain law and order around Parliament during the Monsoon Session, which begins on Monday.
The protests have become a rare public challenge to Modi's Hindu nationalist government during its third term, drawing support from opposition parties, rights activists and some Bollywood celebrities. Protesters say the space for dissent has shrunk under Modi, whose government has been criticised for suppressing public protests by imprisoning activists and, in some cases, resorting to forceful police crackdowns.
Senior leaders in Modi's government have adopted a hard line against the movement. Pradhan has accused the protesters of acting against the nation, while other ministers have acknowledged students' concerns but insisted there was no need for talks or negotiations with the movement.
Jyoti Rajput, a yoga teacher, said she joined the protests because "this rotten system refuses to take action".
"It cannot see the pain of students, and that's why so many people have joined this movement," she said.