India's education minister resigns, end called to Delhi protests

NEW DELHI: India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday after mass youth-led protests demanded his ouster in anger over a string of irregularities in potentially life-changing exams.

Thousands of young people gathered in the capital and in other parts of the country this week, under the banner of the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanding an overhaul of the education system and Pradhan’s resignation.

“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.

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.

Read more: India’s Modi under pressure as youth protest leaders set for more talks

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.

‘We have done it’

Protesters erupted in joy after Pradhan’s announcement.

“We have done it,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said to a thunderous response by hundreds of protesters.

The movement has evolved to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what critics brand as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s increasingly authoritarian style of governance.

The protests became one of the biggest challenges to Hindu nationalist Modi’s administration since his 2024 re-election.

The protesters’ other demands included compensation for those affected by examination irregularities and for legal cases against protesters to be dropped, according to CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka.

India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi threw his weight behind protesters in support of their cause, calling Pradhan’s resignation a “huge step”.

Gandhi called for Modi to “apologize” and respect students and India’s future generations.

“Action should be taken against those guilty of violence against students,” he said.

Sunil, 27, who came to the protest site for the first time on Saturday to “experience the atmosphere”, said it was “truly electrifying, especially after the minister’s resignation”.

“What the young people did was commendable,” he told AFP.