← July 24, 2026 briefingPolitics
India's Youth Protest Spreads as Wangchuk Ends Hunger Strike
Climate activist and engineer Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike on Friday, citing fears of imminent violence, as India's student-led "cockroach" protest movement — sparked by an exam paper scandal — continued to swell into one of the country's biggest youth uprisings in years. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the education minister and are calling for nationwide protests against what they describe as systemic corruption under Narendra Modi's government. The movement has drawn comparisons to previous mass youth mobilisations and poses a fresh political headache for Modi's BJP.






