Police attack Cockroach activists as thousands march on Indian parliament - Al Jazeera

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing its staff reporting along with AP and Reuters, reported that Indian police used tear gas and baton charges on Monday, July 20, 2026, as more than 10,000 supporters of the youth-led Cockroach movement tried to march toward Parliament in New Delhi. The demonstrators, gathered around Jantar Mantar before setting off, demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and action over alleged corruption and mismanagement in India’s exam system.

The protest coincided with the opening day of Parliament’s monsoon session and was described by Al Jazeera as the movement’s largest street mobilisation so far against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The crowd included students, professionals and families, and its numbers reportedly grew after activist Sonam Wangchuk, 59, was forcibly hospitalised on Saturday during a hunger strike in solidarity with the campaign. Delhi police said the protest area was overcrowded and urged people to disperse; police also disputed reports of a scuffle, while Al Jazeera said online videos appeared to show riot police pushing protesters back with canes.

The Cockroach movement emerged after anger over exam paper leaks and the annulment of a medical entrance test taken by about 2.2 million aspiring doctors, who were required to sit for it again under tighter security. Al Jazeera reported that the movement adopted its name after India’s chief justice compared some unemployed young people to “cockroaches,” turning the insult into a protest identity.

The government reportedly offered limited engagement by inviting two activists to talks with Health Minister JP Nadda. The demonstrations matter because they signal an unusually visible youth-led challenge to Modi’s third-term government, amid wider claims by protesters that dissent has become harder in India.