India’s education minister resigns after weeks of ‘Cockroach’ protests

(ALJAZEERA) -  India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned, handing a big victory ⁠to youth protesters nationwide who had demanded that he quit to take responsibility for a series of examination paper leaks.

Pradhan announced his resignation on X on Saturday just as police fired tear gas to scatter the protesters in New Delhi, hours before their leaders were set to hold another round ‌of talks with federal ministers.

“Considering the situation that has arisen at Jantar Mantar and across the country, so that anti-national forces do not take advantage of this situation … I have sent my resignation letter to Prime Minister [Narendra Modi],” Pradhan wrote in his post

“I deeply respect the ⁠aspirations, feelings, and legitimate expectations of ⁠the country’s youth.”

Pradhan said he did not want to allow tens of thousands of students calling for his resignation to be taken advantage of by “anti-national forces”. He said he did not want to see pupils become “entangled in legal complexities” instead of studying and building their careers.

Cheers erupted among the thousands of protesters who have been rallying at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar area and elsewhere as the news of Pradhan quitting spread.

The demonstrators are part of a political satire movement, known as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), established to channel the discontent of India’s youth, many of whom believe they have been failed by Modi and his government.