The Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike on Friday after what he described as a long negotiation and concern over possible violence, but the students and supporters gathering under the Cockroach Janta Party banner say the protest will continue until Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. That makes the movement bigger than one man or the CJP’s strike and more pressing moment for the government.
This is no longer just a protest about one exam. It is a test of whether India’s institutions can absorb youth anger without breaking the mood in the streets. The CJP and the students are in talks with the government, but the students continue to demand Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
The immediate trigger remains the same: leaked medical entrance exam papers, allegations of cheating, and the anger of millions of students who say the system has been rigged against them. The leak affected about 2 million students, and that protesters are also demanding compensation for families of students who died by suicide after the scandal.
The street response has been forceful. Police cracked down on protesters in Delhi, using batons and tear gas as demonstrators tried to march toward Parliament, and reports said dozens were injured in the clashes. Delhi Police later said nearly 180 people were hurt, while the movement’s supporters said the crackdown only proved their point: that the state was more interested in controlling the crowd than fixing the scandal.
The movement’s face is not just Wangchuk. The organizer Abhijeet Dipke has kept the Cockroach Janta Party alive on the ground, turning a once-satirical label into a political brand that now has real street weight. What began as an online activity has become a protest machine with marches, sit-ins, hospital transfers, and demands that are now being repeated from Delhi to other cities.
Wangchuk’s role matters because he gives the protest moral authority and national reach. He first signaled support in early June, then joined the protest at Jantar Mantar and began his hunger strike on June 28, linking the exam outrage to a larger campaign for educational accountability and reform. By July, his deteriorating health had become part of the story, with courts and hospitals drawn into the fallout.
The Centre, for its part, is trying to frame the movement as exaggerated. Officials have denied claims of mass casualties tied to the protest and have pushed back against viral misinformation, while Delhi University has warned students to stay away from Jantar Mantar.
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