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People have returned in their thousands to a protest site in New Delhi despite facing a brutal police crackdown on their march towards parliament earlier in the week, as the biggest challenge to prime minister Narendra Modi in years continued to gain momentum.

Protesters dubbing themselves “cockroaches” are seeking accountability from the government over a major exam leaks scandal and the resignation of the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, with those calls expanding this week to demands for Modi himself to step aside.

On Tuesday evening the crowd spilled over from Delhi’s historic protest site Jantar Mantar, where police tried to shut down a weeks-long sit-in, and chanted slogans and messages of solidarity with students on the streets of the Indian capital. Even after midnight on a humid summer night, the site was alive with throngs of young people calling for Modi and Pradhan’s resignations.

Support for the Cockroach Janta Party, a pressure group named ironically after critical comments directed at young people by the country’s most senior judge, has only surged after police and paramilitary used brute force and tear gas to quash Monday’s largely peaceful march.

At the protest site The Independent met students and minors who had been caught up in that violence, many displaying serious injuries that they said were received at the hands of the police.

Police use batons to disperse the crowd (Reuters)

A nine-year-old boy with bandages on his foot was looking for any shoe his size in a collection of footwear, gathered from the scene where protesters fled during the crackdown. “I was here with my mother and elder sister [on Monday],” the boy says. “Every one of us got beaten up.

“The doctor has asked me not to get the bandage wet and not to walk barefoot,” he adds, though his search for footwear his size is unsuccessful.

He, like others at the protest site, struggles to make sense of why the police resorted to baton-charging demonstrators.

A nine-year-old boy suffered injuries at the protest march on Monday, 20 July 2026. (Alisha Rahaman Sarkar/ The Independent)

Dozens of school pupils, college students and activists who suffered injuries at the march have now become the face of the CJP movement, which has since transcended the borders of the capital, with people travelling from across the country to take part. Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the movement, says more than 150 people are undergoing treatment after the crackdown.

The authorities have defended the police action as a proportionate measure to maintain public order, and say that 118 security personnel and only 60 protesters were injured in the clashes on Monday. A Delhi Police statement claimed that “protesters displayed unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour” and vowed “strict action” against anyone involved in the violence.

Prime minister Modi has so far not commented on the month-long protest, while Pradhan tweeted that opposition parties were “shamelessly exploit[ing] students as political tools to manufacture disruption”.

Protests in solidarity with the CJP movement have begun across India. On Wednesday afternoon police in the eastern city of Patna used tear gas and baton charges to prevent protesters from marching towards the Bihar state governor's residence. In the country’s financial capital, Mumbai, police have detained dozens of protesters since Monday, according to local reports.

Similar protests have emerged in other major cities, from Kolkata in the east to Ahmedabad in the west. In a show of solidarity, people from across the country sent food for those camping out in the rain via delivery apps. Outside the gates of Janpath metro station, at least a dozen gig workers stood holding packets of food to be delivered to the protesters. Some carried biryani, others burgers and pizza, while others brought rice and roti.

At the protest site in Delhi, a student named Mayank tells The Independent that he was attacked by the police while escorting a female protester. He says he has been taking part in the protest since his friend, a prospective medical student, died by suicide after the debacle involving the scrapping of the national entrance exams for university.

"We had assembled peacefully in the morning, then someone from above started pelting stones so the police started beating us with batons," he said, adding that he suffered injuries to his hand, shoulder and leg.

"They [police] grabbed hold of a woman walking in front of me. Her kurta got torn in the tussle, so I was protecting her and escorting her away when police hit me on the hand," he added. "I can tolerate this pain; it is not more than the pain the government is causing to the youth by suppressing dissent."

(L) Aniket Patil and Mayank were beaten by the police with batons at the New Delhi protest on 20 July 2026. (Alisha Rahaman Sarkar/ The Independent)

Aniket Patil, an activist who has been serving tea and water to those gathered at Jantar Mantar since the start of the CJP sit-in protest, claims police in plain clothes barged into his house last month enquiring about the movement’s funding.

On Monday, Patil suffered severe injuries to his leg, face and head. "I will camp at the protest site until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns," he says, adding: "Even if the police attack me again."

Anil Singh, 42, travelled to Delhi from Madhya Pradesh in central India to "fight for the future of my kids". Singh is a father of two children aged five and six.

“We are standing with the youth. The pain and agony of the parents of those who killed themselves became unbearable to watch,” he says. He too displays injuries received on Monday, but says he is determined to continue protesting.

Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) pose next to a message along a street after clashing with police (AFP/Getty)

Almost 5km from Jantar Mantar, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in parliament, was detained by the police as he staged a sit-in outside the prime minister's house on Tuesday, demanding Modi’s resignation “for destroying the future of India’s youth”.

His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, other senior members of their Congress party and the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were also detained separately.

"An attack on students is an attack on every Indian family. PM Modi believes he can get away without answers, without sequences. He cannot. Not this time," Gandhi wrote on X after he was later released. "The government doesn’t want to take any accountability, or does it want to have a debate on it in parliament?" he said.

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is detained by police during a sit-in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence, demanding accountability for police action against students, in New Delhi, India, July 21, 2026 (Reuters)

On Wednesday the situation in the capital was tense, with the government deploying both riot police and border security forces to shut down at least 16 Delhi Metro stations near the protest area as the number of demonstrators continued to swell.

Tensions have been heightened by unverified allegations that security personnel used pellet guns and shock batons against protesters, with the authorities rejecting reports to that effect as false. The use of pellet guns by security personnel has previously been largely limited to the restive Indian territory of Kashmir, where their deployment is highly controversial.

Sneha, Madhulika and Purnima, all 21-year-old students from Delhi University, braved the pushback to join their friends at the protest last night. "I hate prime minister Narendra Modi and want to see change in government," Madhulika said, sitting by the barricades near the stage.

Supporters of India's Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) shout slogans at a protest site (Reuters)

The CJP founder Dipke, who studied PR in the US and set the party up online before returning to India to lead the ground protests, has begun a hunger strike after another fasting activist, Sonam Wangchuk, was removed from the protest site by force at the weekend and taken to hospital.

Dipke looked frail on Tuesday as he accused the government of effectively holding two senior members of the movement “hostage” for hours in the name of talks with health minister JP Nadda. Nadda has called for talks to continue and said they “took place in a cordial atmosphere”.

Dipke thundered that the group’s nationwide backing showed “this is the protest of the people across India”. He told The Independent there would be “no talks with the government”, adding: “We won't move till Pradhan resigns.”

Dipke ruled out another march to the parliament, saying his group did not want more people to be hurt. He also apologised to supporters, especially women, who he alleged were beaten by male police officers.

Education minister Pradhan late on Tuesday said the government "remains 100 per cent committed to discussing" the medical exam paper leaks and “every genuine concern of our youth on the floor of the house [of parliament]”.

"The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign," ‌he said, referring to Gandhi's sit-in demonstration.

"We owe our students more than outrage. We ‌owe them answers, reforms and accountability," Pradhan claimed. He had previously called the protesters a "B team of terrorists".

In a lengthy statement, Delhi Police said that after refusing to disperse, protesters “attacked police personnel with stones and other objects... posing a serious threat to public order, the security arrangements in place, and the safety of police personnel performing their lawful duties”.

“Delhi Police remains committed to maintaining public order and ensuring the safety and security of all citizens,” a statement concluded.

A petition alleging police violence reached the Supreme Court on Wednesday, where chief justice Surya Kant – whose own disparaging remarks likening some young people to cockroaches spawned the CJP’s founding – declined to entertain it, saying: “Don’t waste our time and don’t waste your time,” he said.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

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