While India’s Gen Z takes to the streets again, tens of thousands of students across the globe are protesting right-wing ideologies, broken public education, militarism, and crimes against women.
In India, various student bodies and the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) are demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over allegations of mass voter deletions.
It has only been mere months since their sustained protests over alleged discrepancies in competitive entrance exams such as the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) led to the resignation of then Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan.
Their protests sit within a larger political shift, reflecting growing global calls for accountability.
In France, school students have been met with tear gas and police violence but refuse to relent. In Brazil, students are marching against Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro. In the US, students are standing together against the ‘Cornell 7’ and the culture of protecting alleged rapists.
In each of these countries, a new generation has risen to demand justice and a better future. So, what are these protests all about?
United States
The US has witnessed a string of protests since Donald Trump was elected president in 2024.
Several student demonstrations, mostly in support of Palestine, began in 2024 and continued after Trump’s election. Massive protests later erupted against stringent anti-immigration policies and the murders of several citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Now, thousands of students are protesting after a woman known only as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped in 2024 at Cornell University, an Ivy League institute. Dehumanising and sexually explicit text messages sent by the alleged rapists have also resurfaced, further infuriating protesters.
Jane Doe alleges that, in 2024, she was drugged with ketamine and gang-raped by seven male students at their Chi Phi frat house on campus. She has said that the assault left her feeling “shattered and degraded”.
Referred to as the ‘Cornell 7’, the men have been identified as Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, and Scott Kretzschmar.
In her lawsuit, Jane Doe says Cornell University took inadequate disciplinary action after she complained to university authorities in 2024. She also alleges that all seven men were given the chance “to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell.”
The protests over the Cornell 7 have also highlighted the stark difference between the university’s response to pro-Palestine demonstrations and its handling of an alleged gang rape on campus in the same year.
Many have pointed out that Cornell authorities tore down the peaceful Gaza Solidarity Encampment in 2024. Scores of students who participated in the protest faced suspensions, campus bans, and mass arrests. Some were even targeted by ICE.
One particular case is now under the spotlight as an example of this disparity.
In 2024, Momodou Taal, a Gambian doctoral student at Cornell, was forced to leave the US fearing detention and threats to his life. While seven, mostly wealthy white men, were given the opportunity to write essays as ‘punishment’ for alleged gang rape, Taal’s student visa was revoked after he protested against the genocide in Palestine.
Brazil
The slogan “No to the father, no to the son” is ringing out in Rio de Janeiro as thousands of students march against far-right presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro.
Flavio is currently under investigation for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. He has also reportedly received millions of US dollars to finance a film about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting to overturn the 2022 elections.
It may be recalled that Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the presidential palace in 2023, just a week after Left-leaning Lula da Silva was sworn in as President.
According to reports, protesters fear that a return to a far-right rule in Brazil would threaten civil rights, including queer rights. Protesters have also criticised Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in more than seven lakh deaths in the country.
Earlier this week, Flavio polled 47% of the votes, compared with incumbent Lula da Silva’s 45%, in the first round of the presidential race. Under Brazil’s electoral system, a presidential candidate must secure more than 50% of the valid votes to win in the first round. If no candidate crosses that threshold, a second round of voting is held.
The second round of the 2026 presidential election is expected to take place on October 25.
France
In France, most of the student protesters are high school students. They have taken to the streets to speak out against crumbling infrastructure and a lack of resources in public education. Across the country, parents, university students, and trade unions have joined them in solidarity.
The student protests began in Paris in late September, coinciding with a strike by public sector workers against the national budget.
While President Emmanuel Macron’s centre-right government has reportedly sought to downplay the scale of the demonstrations, at least 400,000 (four lakh) people are said to have taken part. The protests have since spread to over 40 cities and spilled over into Belgium, according to reports.
For some, the sheer scale of the demonstrations has recalled the historic student protests of May 1968 in Paris, which eventually led to the toppling of then President Charles de Gaulle’s government.
Macron’s response, which has involved deploying large numbers of riot police, has sparked outrage after students faced police brutality, including physical altercations and tear gas.
In one incident that has since gone viral, Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko can be seen using his body to shield protesting students as riot police attempt to drag them away. In another instance, trade union workers formed human chains between students and police.
Reacting to Bagayoko’s intervention, many have pointed out that, amid growing anti-immigration tensions across the global north, it was a Black Muslim man of Malian heritage who stood up to police officers armed with riot gear.
Other protests
In late September, students in Germany went on strike over fears of military conscription. Earlier in January, the country introduced a voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds.
The programme aims to increase the active-duty strength of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces. Political observers have also noted that this marks a shift away from Germany’s post-Cold War emphasis on demilitarisation. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s centre-right government is pushing to make the Bundeswehr, the strongest conventional army in Europe, according to reports.
Questionnaires on willingness to join the military and health status are now mandatory for men and voluntary for women. Since the programme was introduced, scores of students have received such questionnaires, leading to growing fears that the government could eventually introduce compulsory military service.
In some places, including Berlin, protesters also carried Palestinian flags alongside anti-war posters.
Japan has also witnessed smaller protests against militarism since October 3. Although these demonstrations are not specifically student-led, they were triggered by the murder of a Japanese woman, Anna Yagi, in Okinawa. A US soldier identified as Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard has been accused of the murder. Okinawa reportedly hosts the highest concentration of US military bases in Japan and is strategically located near China and Taiwan.
Anger over the US military presence in Japan has been growing for decades. In 1995, large-scale protests erupted after three US soldiers were accused of abducting and raping a 12-year-old Japanese girl. In 2025, a US Marine was convicted for sexually assaulting a Japanese woman.
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