Angry youth | The rage of Gen Z

Download App How a protest against an exam paper leak has become a youth movement holding the Modi government to accountTO THE BARRICADE: Police try to hold back the swell of protesters during their march to Parliament in Delhi, Jul. 20. (Photo: PTI)ISSUE DATE: Aug 3, 2026 | UPDATED: Jul 25, 2026 20:21 IST For three weeks, the protesters at Jantar Mantar in Delhi could be ignored, mocked or dismissed as another social media spectacle. That ended on July 20, when tens of thousands answered the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) call to march on Parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session. Barricades fell, tear gas spread through central Delhi, and a movement with an improbable name forced itself into the centre of national politics. The immediate trigger was the leak of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate, or NEET-UG 2026, question paper. The protesters demanded accountability for the lapse, the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and justice for students betrayed by the system meant to serve them. But soon NEET became only the most visible sign of a deeper breakdown: leaked examinations, cancelled recruitment tests, unfilled vacancies and years of preparation wiped out by fraud, delay or administrative failure.