India’s Education Minister Resigns After Youth Protests

Thousands of young people took to the streets in New Delhi and other parts of India this week under the banner of the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanding sweeping reforms to the country’s education system and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

“I am pained to see the events of the past 10 days. This is not a matter of personal prestige for me,” Pradhan said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

“I have sent my resignation letter to the prime minister,” Pradhan said in his letter in Hindi.

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The CJP said after Pradhan’s resignation that all their demands had been met in another round of talks and that they were calling off the protests that were centred on the Jantar Mantar demonstration site in central New Delhi.

Police had fired tear gas and charged with batons at protesters as they tried to march from the site to parliament this week.

The government held two rounds of talks with CJP leaders on Monday and Friday but little headway was made initially, with the youth-led movement sticking to their demands.

Pradhan announced his resignation before the third round of talks.

“India’s youth power is the real strength of this nation. My resolve is that we will not let the country’s youth get trapped in a vicious cycle of confusion,” he said.

AFP