A uniformed security officer swings a baton at a crowd of protesters pressed against a barricade amid trees in New Delhi.
REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
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Millions of Gen Z Indians Are Protesting a Rigged Medical School Exam, Police Beat Them with Batons and 180 People Were Hurt

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Millions of young Indians are in revolt over a leaked medical school entrance exam, and this week the standoff turned violent: police in Delhi beat protesters with batons and fired tear gas, and nearly 180 people were hurt. At the center of it is the Cockroach Janta Party, a movement that started as an online joke and has since become a national protest force demanding accountability for what it calls deep-seated corruption in education.

A wide street strewn with debris as tear gas smoke engulfs protesters near a McDonald's and a Regal Theatre sign in New Delhi.
Tear gas billows through Connaught Place as a shirtless demonstrator clutching an Indian flag stands amid the haze during the Cockroach Janta Party’s march on parliament in New Delhi, July 20, 2026. Photo by Anushree Fadnavis / Reuters.

The leaked exam was the national entrance test for medical school, and it affected more than 2 million students. Some of them died by suicide after the results came out in May.

That’s the origin of the Cockroach Janta Party, a movement that began as online satire and has since drawn support from millions of young, Gen Z Indians. They want Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign, and they call the leak a sign of deep-seated corruption in education.

On Monday, thousands marched on parliament in central Delhi. Delhi Police said nearly 180 people were injured, 118 of them security and police personnel and 60 protesters. The CJP’s founder said more than 150 of his supporters were being treated in hospital. Police fired tear gas and beat marchers with batons.

A uniformed officer in camouflage raises a baton over a crowd of protesters who are pressed against barbed wire fencing amid trees.
A security personnel raises his baton against demonstrators near Jantar Mantar as Cockroach Janta Party supporters rallied on the opening day of India’s parliament monsoon session in New Delhi, July 20, 2026, demanding the education minister’s resignation over exam paper leaks. Photo by Anushree Fadnavis / Reuters.

The group says it won’t march on parliament again. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said he didn’t want more youth hurt, and he apologized to supporters, especially the women he said were beaten by male police officers. Delhi Police said protesters had “displayed unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour” and “deliberately violated the prohibitory orders in force.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the leaks for the first time Tuesday, a day after the clashes. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju relayed his words to lawmakers: “The prime minister said…that to ensure the future of youth is not jeopardised…everyone should unite to ensure strict steps are taken, those guilty punished, and a foolproof system is created.” Modi said 13 people were arrested over the irregularities and a re-examination was held with no delay in results.

The protesters have three demands: Pradhan’s resignation, compensation of 10 million rupees ($104,000) each for the roughly dozen students who died, and the release of activist Sonam Wangchuk. Wangchuk, a Magsaysay award winner, began a hunger strike on June 28 and was forcibly moved to a hospital by police on Saturday. On Tuesday the Delhi High Court allowed him to transfer to a private hospital, fulfilling one of the three demands.

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