NEW DELHI, July 21 (Reuters) – India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement said on Tuesday it would continue its protest but will not march again, a day after scores of supporters were injured in clashes with police who tried to stop their march on parliament.
Delhi Police said nearly 180 people, including 118 security and police personnel, and 60 protesters, were injured on Monday when they clashed in central Delhi.
Thousands of protesters from Delhi and nearby cities and towns gathered to march on parliament on Monday, joining a movement that began as an online satire but has turned out to become the biggest challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term.
The months-old movement by the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has drawn the support of millions of young, Gen Z Indians who are demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination paper leaks that affected more than 2 million students in May.
Seventy protesters had been detained and legal action would be initiated against them, police said in a statement late on Monday.
Early on Tuesday, about 150-200 protesters gathered at the protest site of Jantar Mantar in central Delhi, chanting slogans amid a mild drizzle. Security remained tight with paramilitary personnel patrolling parts of central Delhi and barricades slowing traffic.
“We had to call off the protest yesterday because we did not want more youth to be injured,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told a press conference.
“We will not march again because the police will hurt the youth again,” he said, adding that more than 150 protesters were undergoing treatment in hospital.