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India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement, whose protests have forced the education minister’s resignation, urged authorities on Monday to release all demonstrators detained in weeks of rallies nationwide.
The online Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which organised protests over exam paper leaks and other irregularities, said they had received reports of students held in detention, particularly in the states of Assam, West Bengal and Bihar.
“Any failure to release those detained or withdraw criminal cases would amount to a breach of public trust,” the protest group said in a statement, adding they would take “further necessary steps” if their demand was not met.
The statement comes two days after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as education minister over repeated failures in the conduct of competitive exams that have fuelled anger among millions of young Indians.
