Student Protests in Delhi and India 2026: Gen-Z’s Frustration and Fight for Reforms

From June 6 to July 25, 2026, India witnessed the world’s largest Gen-Z protest movement. Led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and student organizations, it mobilized tens of thousands of people of different class, caste and religious backgrounds onto the streets of the country. Independent journalists and media collectives, women and Gen-Z meme culture quickly became the face of the protest. The peaceful movement, calling for accountability from the national government after leaked exam papers, was met with harsh police violence and repression. Although the CJP has called off the protests, concerns over the government’s next steps and repercussions for protesters are on the rise.

‘We will not Forget this Day’. Background and Events Leading up to July 20, 2026

On July 20, 2026, the peaceful CJP-led protest march ‘Chalo Sansad’, scheduled for the first day of the Indian parliament’s monsoon session, was stopped and brutally disrupted. Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) used barricades, batons, tear gas and pellet guns, areal internet shutdowns and metro station closures. Several were injured, and at least one person lost partial eyesight. Video footage emerged of women being assaulted during the crackdown. Reports of the use of at least seven rounds of pellets have now also been reported and verified, although the RAF and Delhi Police denied these allegations. It marked the memorable climax of a weeks-long protest at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi. How did it come to this?

In May 2026, Abhijeet Dipke, along with Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, founded the CJP and were joined by Ratna Singh, who became spokesperson. The team brings together university graduates with backgrounds in communication, social mobilizing and law. They had no direct connection to the exam paper leaks but took on the cause in solidarity with students. The CJP began as a satirical response to a statement made by Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant, who had compared India’s unemployed youth to ‘cockroaches’. Within a few days of the CJP’s initiation, its Instagram follower count rose to 22.5 million, roughly three times that of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). ‘CJP’ parodically leans on this name and the cockroach quickly became a symbol of resistance. As India’s unemployment rate of degree-holders aged 15 to 25 has increased to a staggering 40%, Kant’s comment fuelled outrage over long-standing systemic shortcomings and stagnating career opportunities.

On June 6, the CJP joined forces with the All India Student Association (AISA), All India Students Federation, Krantikari Yuva Sangathan and the Students Federation of India and set up a protest camp at Jantar Mantar, following yet another leak of the medical studies entry exams ‘National Eligibility cum Entrance Test’ (NEET). By now, NEET exams* have been leaked 110 times, a majority of which falls in the period after 2014, as a dataset covering all leaks from 2004 to 2026 shows. These leaks force students to retake exams for which they prepare for years. In 2025, 2.2 million students sat the exams, 1.236 million of whom passed, but only 118,000 made the cut to score a seat at one of the country’s medical colleges. Many families risk their livelihoods to help their children succeed. For those with limited means, this can cascade them into poverty and eliminate all prospects of education for their children. This immense pressure has already driven at least 20 students to commit suicide. In response and fuelled by outrage over lack of accountability, the movement demanded the resignation of Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, 1Rs crore (10 million rupees) of compensation for the families who lost their children, and a system reform.

The camp was soon joined by environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk, who, together with others, entered a hunger strike for 26 and 23 days, respectively. As hunger strikes are known as one of the historically most important forms of non-violent resistance in India, Sonam Wangchuk’s forceful removal from the protest site in the early hours of Saturday, July 18 caused fury amongst protesters. Police and paramilitary personnel concealed his removal with white linens and brought him to a hospital in South Delhi. For a few days, his wife, Gitanjali J Angmo took over communication on his behalf. After 26 days, he ended his hunger strike in the presence of two Union Ministers.

In the days following the violent crackdown on July 20, the causes driving the protests expanded to other topics as well. Alongside the exam paper leaks, the issues of corruption, unemployment and the right to protest peacefully mobilized the youth to join the protests.  By the end of the week, Gen-Z had joined the movement in several cities across India.

Means of Control and Surveillance and Protesters’ Response

While more than a dozen metro stations were closed, a broadband network shutdown was invoked with jammers for five days at Jantar Mantar in a 1.5-km radius without announcing the order of suspension to the public. This affected protesters’ ability to communicate at least temporarily. Protesters reverted to WIFI hotspots in nearby areas or used ‘offline, Bluetooth-aided mesh messaging protocols’ like Bitchat. However, the Indian government soon ordered Microsoft’s GitHub to disable the app. As protesters circumvented the shutdown of such offline apps, NGOs voiced their concerns about delayed real-time uploading of content which documented the protest. Internet shutdowns have become a common method used by government bodies to gain control over protests and the public’s communication in several parts of the world, and it was not the first time the Indian government had resorted to such measures.

Following July 20, reports on security forces’ use of AI surveillance technology, CCTV and meta glasses around Jantar Mantar emerged. On July 28, a plea was filed with the Supreme Court to contest the use of biometric identification technology. When the government invoked the National Security Act, global NGOs raised their concerns as it would ‘allow police to hold people in administrative detention without procedural guarantees’. In response to the level of surveillance, protestors shared techniques of hiding their recognizable facial features and exercising their civil rights online.

The Role of Independent Journalists and Media Collectives

The country’s large media houses did not cover the onset of the protests at Jantar Mantar on June 6. However, the previous success of social media had led to millions following the CJP’s activities continuously online. In addition, vernacular alternative media across the country agitated and organized students but also working- and middle-class youth to join the protest. In Delhi, independent investigative journalists, collectives and influencers reported to their teams, and aired live broadcasts and short videos from the protest site on a regular basis. Women journalists and content creators, like Priyanshi Sharma (peek TV), Faye D’Souza (beetroot news) and Kavya Karnatac made this protest accessible to a wider non-Hindi and/or English-speaking audience. Coverage by these and other alternative collectives became the protest’s media lifeline, connecting Jantar Mantar to the world and mobilizing tens of thousands of protesters in Delhi and other cities every day. Their collected reports, photographs, and video footage became pivotal in documenting the violence inflicted on the protesters, but also the youth’s frustration with the education system and their sense of unity amongst each other. At Jantar Mantar, protesters erected a ‘Wall of Shame’ documenting the violence on July 20, 2026. Later, they also created a ‘Wall of Fame’ with signatures and pictures to thank journalists and content creators for their efforts. The decisive role of independent journalists and media collectives and their rigorous reporting illustrate the precarious state of journalism in India. According to the World Freedom of Press Index by Reporters Without Borders, India was downgraded from rank 151 to 156 out of 180 in 2026.

Signs of Hope and Dissent: Memes, Sense of Humour and Gestures of Care and Community

India has a rich recent history of student-led protest. What made this particular movement unique, however, was an impeccable sense of creativity and humour that brought Gen-Z meme culture to the streets and turned it into a means of resistance. The extent of illustration and visualization of the protest became its literal signboard. After July 20, protesters created memes and satirical reels about the crackdown only to return to the site on the next day. Songs from Hindi movies like Rang de Basanti, Rockstar, DUS and Swades but also Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Care about us became the soundtrack of the protest. Some brought their pets to underscore the peaceful nature of protest, while Delhi’s street dogs gave the protest night camps company. Overall, Gen-Z blurred the boundaries between online and offline protest by simply analogizing memes and bringing them back to social media in the form of reels. Thus, this protest arguably introduced a unique form of dissent expressed through art and creativity.

There have been remarkable acts of solidarity in Delhi and other cities. People across India but also Dubai sent food orders via online delivery services to Jantar Mantar, so much that the CJP had to request that orders be held to avoid waste. The drivers who delivered these orders became a backbone of the protests. However, security forces soon prohibited deliveries to the site. Following the protests, reports emerged of security forces having searched wrappers to identify restaurants that had been sending food.

Apart from religious institutions like mosques and gurdwaras, NGOs and selected cafés opened their doors to provide protesters with first aid, food, water and shelter at night. For a moment, gestures of care, like fanning against the heat and praying together, became an empowering and hopeful aspect of the protest for many. By demonstrating unity beyond religious boundaries, protesters challenged some of the strongest ongoing political narratives: a division of religious groups and the scapegoating of marginalized communities.

The Women of the Protests

While Abhijeet Dipke became the face of the movement, women shaped protest in equally decisive ways. Besides the named journalists, women on the ground like Ratna Singh (CJP) took on legal issues arising from arrests and police violence. Neha Bora, AISA president and PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, remained on hunger strike when Sonam Wangchuk was removed. Her speeches mobilized and encouraged the masses to continue protesting, while her and Gitanjali J Angmo’s sharp analyses caught increasing attention from the media. Politically, the protest was backed by several women of opposition parties, who heavily criticized the education system and the extent of violence unleashed on protesters.

For the thousands of women protesters on the streets, Rashi Choudhary writes that some debated their participation over the potential consequences of their faces being recorded and recognized. Feeling safe throughout most of the protest, many decided to participate anyway. They were reportedly joined by the ‘Gulabi Gang’, India’s famous grassroots movement dressed in rose-pink. One of the most memorable pictures, however, emerged from Mumbai, where Rhiya Ahir stood in front of a  police van, stopping it in the rain with her bare hands on the bonnet.

Women also led protests by actively claiming public space, mobilizing their anger paired with a sense of humour. In so doing, they highlighted the gendered, religious and caste-based consequences of the exam paper leaks and their potentially life-changing impact on women’s lives. Simultaneously, they pointed to alleged recorded assaults by security staff at the protests and the sexist nature of memes and protest signs.

Support was also expressed by selected celebrities. As they have immense public reach in India, users online and protesters offline appreciated author Arundhati Roy’s and actress Shabana Azim’s expressions of solidarity at Jantar Mantar, and Sonakshi Sinha’s and Rakhi Sawant’s statements online. However, the youth ridiculed several other celebrities who sent statements only after PM Modi’s video address.

Response by the Government

Some journalists and commentators argue that the protest and Gen-Z’s frustration turned into one of PM Modi’s greatest challenges in his 12-year premiership. He addressed the public thrice in four days in unusual, low-angle phone-recorded video messages, in which he opened his statements with ‘friends’ instead of the equivalent Hindi term ‘mitro’, presumably trying to appeal to Gen-Z on the streets. Amidst a 48-hour ultimatum for the CJP’s demands to be met, government representatives agreed to consult with leaders. Initially, Pradhan’s resignation was rejected. On July 25, however, he handed in his resignation to PM Modi and the government agreed to all conditions the CJP had set. Moments before Pradhan’s resignation, Delhi Police had charged protesters with tear gas and lathis. Soon after, Pralhad Joshi was named new Minister of Education. Following July 25, police forces in Delhi, Bihar and other states initially filed reports against selected protesters, which contradicted the agreement made between the CJP and government. Although the reports were quickly revoked, they caused uncertainty as to whether the CJP had miscalculated its position in the preceding negotiations. What is more, the families whose children committed suicide over the exam leaks have yet to receive the promised compensation.

Is it Over yet …?

While an initial wave of relief, celebration and happiness rippled through the movement and its followers around the world, uncertainty slowly began to creep in. With the rapid dismantling of the protest site, slogans of resistance on walls got painted over in white by July 26. As Pradhan did not express regret over lives lost and exams leaked, critical voices have begun questioning the extent to which his replacement will trigger substantial change. Many remain skeptical, debating whether the protest should have continued until all demands had been met and implemented.

Compared to previous movements like the anti-Citizen Amendment Act, Shahin Bagh and recurring farmers protests, this movement may not have mobilized the largest or most heterogenous crowds over the past decade. Yet, it politicized many first-time protesters and introduced a novel protest culture, which centered on satire and a sense of humour to express frustration over the education system and violence, managing to convey the protesters’ serious concerns.

As the CJP and others catalysed the movement, the next steps will be up to the youth and their (elder) allies. As of now, momentum has not halted and the CJP is set to meet with the government to discuss education system reforms in four weeks. However, the CJP announced that it will return to the streets if the government does not hold up their end of the bargain. At the same time, protesters have been facing legal and online repercussions for their participation in the protests. Upcoming court rulings and in-depth research will yield more insights into the events around July 20 and the following days.

*Author’s note dated August 12, 2026: This sentence is worded incorrectly; instead of “NEET exams,” it should refer to exam papers in general.