India’s ‘cockroach’ protest movement continue despite police crackdown

To India now where supporters of the youth-led cockroach janta party have been protesting against the prime minister and his education minister. Well the unrest was triggered by the cancellation of a national medical entrance exam after question papers were leaked. Around two million students sat the exam in May but it was later scrapped with about a dozen student suicides linked to its cancellation. A retest was held last month. Neha Punia joins us live from New Delhi. So Neha, does it look like the protest is still growing? Absolutely. On Monday we saw this group which started as a satirical online movement call for a march to parliament and we saw unprecedented scenes in the national capital of New Delhi. Tens of thousands of people showed up. They broke through barricades. They marched to parliament's gates before they were pushed back. And you know since then because of what is being called a brutal police crackdown, police teams using tear gas shells and sticks to push protesters back, there's been anger growing on the ground. So in the last two days we've seen how protesters have stayed put at the protest site of Jantar Mantar in the heart of New Delhi. In the last few hours we're hearing that 16 metro stations in and around that protest site have been shut by officials citing quote-unquote security concerns. Videos circulating online show protests taking place inside metro stations. Some people claiming they're inside some of these metro stations not being allowed to leave and there's sloganeering happening inside. So it looks like people are still trying to make their way to this protest site and you know the cockroach and the party has been posting videos online. We've been on the ground as well and it's certainly packed. People there saying that after what happened on Monday with the police crackdown that's only strengthened their resolve to not call off the protest. They are still demanding the education minister's resignation and say they will not back down until that that happens. Now we're seeing mainstream political parties pick up on this issue. How is that playing out in parliament? We've seen protests inside parliament with members of the opposition party wearing black as a mark of protest. They have jointly now demanded the education minister's resignation on the floor of the house. They're forcing the government to hold a debate on this as well. The government claims it's ready to talk but it's not engaged with the demand of the education minister's resignation. The government also seems to be reaching out to protesters. There are some reports suggesting that there will be a meeting between a senior minister and Mr Modi's government and representatives of the cockroach Janata party. Remember they've already met ministers once on Monday but no assurances were made and soon after that police crackdown happened. So the cockroach Janata party is claiming that they will only talk to the government if ministers come to the protest site. Experts say that's highly unlikely but pressure on the government is growing also because Rahul Gandhi the main opposition leader in India held an impromptu protest outside prime minister Narendra Modi's residence here in New Delhi on Tuesday. He was forcibly removed. His party is claiming that he was hurt in the scuffle that ensued and that's fueled this protest, this anger against the government with protesters thanking Rahul Gandhi for showing up for them. But it's certainly adding more pressure to the actual engagement with these demands. And that's Neha Punia from New Delhi.