India’s youth have broken Modi’s spell

What the report says

Al Jazeera published an opinion essay by Apoorvanand, a University of Delhi Hindi professor, arguing that recent youth protests at Jantar Mantar in central New Delhi marked a significant challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political image. The piece says the agitation appeared to ease after India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination, but contends that protesters’ anger was aimed more broadly at Modi and the concentration of authority around him.

According to the article, thousands of young people occupied the protest site for weeks, using handmade placards, online satire, slogans and digital art rather than centrally organised messaging. The movement adopted the name “Cockroach Janta Party” after India’s chief justice reportedly compared unemployed youth to “cockroaches,” a remark the essay says deepened anger over unemployment, blocked mobility and perceived institutional contempt.

The opinion piece also links the mobilisation to activist Sonam Wangchuk’s fast at Jantar Mantar. It says the government initially ignored him, then forcibly removed him as his health worsened, prompting more young people to gather. Al Jazeera’s contributor describes a July 20 march toward parliament that was met with barricades, restrictions and police violence, comparing the state response to earlier crackdowns on anti-CAA and farmers’ protests.

The essay’s central claim is interpretive: that the protests mattered not only because of the NEET controversy or Pradhan’s resignation, but because young Indians publicly mocked and contested Modi’s cultivated aura of invulnerability. As this is an opinion article, its broader conclusions about the government, judiciary and media reflect the author’s analysis rather than a straight news report.