NEW DELHI: India’s youth protesters called off weeks of demonstrations and celebrated in the streets on Saturday after the education minister quit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government bowed to demands, including calls to fix a cheating-prone exam system.
The worst political crisis of Modi’s third term in office had peaked this week when thousands of protesters marched on parliament, with police using tear gas to control them.
Young voters form a critical base of his Bharatiya Janata Party.
But youths calling themselves ‘cockroaches’ had taken to the streets since late last month, after national exam papers were leaked forcing a resit which affected two million students and galvanised angeraboutthelack of prospects for young Indians.
The resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the students’ primary demand, came as a surprise because Modi has a reputation for refusing toact under pressure. His party faces key state elections next year.
Celebrations erupted at the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi, with thousands of youngsters chanting victory slogans and dancing.
The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, which spearheaded the demonstrations, said it would end its protests.
‘We have done it,’ said Abhijeet Dipke, CJP’s founder, to loud cheers at the site.
Roads around the central business district of Connaught Place, near the protest site, were shut amid celebrations and a swelling crowd of thousands ofprotesters.
Health Minister J.P.
Nadda and Jitendra Singh, a junior minister, held a joint press conference with two CJP spokespersons after another round of talks following Pradhan’s resignation.
Nadda said the government had accepted all demands of the protesters, which included reforms in the exam system, dropping police cases filed against protesters and compensating families of students who died by suicide after the exam paper leaks.
‘The Cockroach Janta Party declares that we withdraw the agitation in good faith,’ CJP spokes-person Saurav Das said.
He said all the demands have been accepted and asked the crowd to withdraw peacefully .
Opposition parties had echoed the demands of the youth and disrupted the monsoon session of parliament for the entire week.
Scenes of police using tear gas to control protesters had also fuelled public anger, although authorities defended their actions saying they were only enforcing the law.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced his resignation in a post on X.
‘Considering the situation that has arisen at Jantar Mantar and across the country, so that antinationalforces donottake advantage of this situation ... I have sent my resignation letter to the prime minister,’ Pradhan wrote.
‘I deeply respect the aspirations, feelings, and legitimate expectations of the country’s youth.
Internet restored The protesters had demanded his resignation over leaks of the national medical school entrance test paper in May, which led to the cancellation of results and a retest which affected two million students. The protests also reflected growing anger in India over job scarcity and government accountability.
Pradhan’s resignation is ‘a victory of peace, patience & perseverance, activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was on a hunger strike for 26 days to support the youth movement, wrote on X.
After news of his resignation, federal authorities restored access to mobile internet around the protest site, after blocking it for most of the week.
Delhi Metro rail stations inandaroundtheareathat were closed for much of four days this week were also opened.-Reuters