‘We have done it’: Joy as ‘Cockroach’ protests push India minister out

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday, July 25, 2026, after weeks of youth-led demonstrations over exam paper leaks and cancellations. The protests, centred in New Delhi and spreading to other cities, had made Pradhan’s departure a central demand and became a significant test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party government.

The movement was organized around the satirical Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, created by Abhijeet Dipke after a social media post asking what would happen if “cockroaches” united. According to the report, the name drew on remarks attributed to India’s chief justice that protesters said insulted young people as “cockroaches” and “parasites.” At the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi, supporters celebrated the resignation, while Dipke dedicated the moment to students who had died by suicide after being affected by exam leaks and cancellations.

Al Jazeera said the CJP urged demonstrators to go home peacefully after saying the government had accepted its demands. Those demands included compensation for families of students who died by suicide, protection from punitive action for protesters, and apologies from security forces for earlier crackdowns. The article cited a July 20 march toward Parliament in which more than 100 protesters were wounded, with images of tear gas and baton charges helping fuel wider anger.

The resignation matters because Al Jazeera described it as a rare concession under Modi, whose government has projected political strength since taking power in 2014. Protesters quoted in the report said the outcome showed young citizens could force accountability, though some argued broader reforms were still needed.