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For 26-year-old Ravi Kumar from Bihar, the journey to New Delhi for the protest is personal. He is travelling to the capital with his younger sister, who has spent the last two years preparing for the NEET exam. For families like theirs, these exams are not just tests but life-changing opportunities.
“Watching her hard work be met with controversy has been frustrating. We're not going there to create trouble," Kumar says, "we just want our concerns to be heard."
He was part of a swarm of young people, including Sahil, a student from West Bengal who flew to Delhi with 50 others, all of whom funded their own travel, to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“I hope our protest is successful. This protest is to save our education system and demand the resignation of the Education Minister,” he said.
The protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on June 6, was called by Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the online youth movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Dipke, who arrived in Delhi from the US on June 6, urged supporters from across the country to gather in the national capital.
The protest centred on concerns over alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment processes, with participants demanding greater transparency and accountability in the education system.
The movement, which began as a satirical online group, is transitioning to a grassroots protest in response to the ongoing CBSE and NEET paper-leak rows. The primary demand of the CJP is the immediate resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, citing the wasted hard work of lakhs of students and the tragic suicides of NEET aspirants following the exam scandals.
While the CJP began as satire, its supporters view it as a vital outlet for a generation that feels ignored by mainstream media. An MBA student from Delhi, Fateyjoote, said that the movement allowed youth to be political without being ashamed about it.
"Our generation is very angry," Fateyjoote noted, pointing to issues ranging from hospital conditions to local potholes. "The anger was already there, but now we know how to channel it. Even those not personally affected by the exams are joining to seek justice for the next generation."
Call for protest
In a video released on all CJP social media platforms, Dipke had called for the supporters of the movement all across India to join him in this protest. The CJP website had also outlined that they would seek permission for a peaceful protest and then head to Jantar Mantar to demand the Education Minister’s resignation.
On June 3, it was announced that activist Sonam Wangchuk would be joining the protest. Both Dipke and Wangchuk have specified many times that the aim is to keep the protest peaceful and to follow the rules of the Constitution as law-abiding citizens. “This movement will be led with love and peace,” commented Dipke under an Instagram reel of Wangchuk asking protesters to bring flowers to the protest.
While the original plan for the protest was to have the supporters meet Dipke at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Dipke called this off to avoid causing inconveniences to passengers arriving and departing.
"How long will we wait for someone else to come, raise their voice and save us?" Dipke asked in a video appeal, calling on all "cockroaches" who believe in democracy to unite for the future of Indian students.
In an interview with Peek TV, a person attending the protest from Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, shared the physical toll of their dissent. "We left our house at 5 pm yesterday. We have spent the whole night here."
He said the gathering was driven by students from across states rather than any political party. “We are not from any party. We are students from different places.” All of them had appeared for NEET exams in 2024 and 2026, only to see both papers leaked.
This article was written by students interning with TNM.