Nearly 500 people gathered at Freedom Park on Sunday, June 14, protesting against the NEET question paper leak, after a call given by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). Although NEET was the focus, anger spilled over onto the Union government for its attitude towards criticism of its decisions and policies, and also on media houses which were perceived to be favourable to the Union government.
People began gathering at Freedom Park—the only place where protests are permitted by the police in Bengaluru—well before the protest was due to start at 4 pm.
After members of the press had set up their tripods in front of the stage, reporters from IANS and India Today were surrounded by protesters who chanted, "Godi media go back." The reporters did not respond to the slogans and after about five minutes, the chanting gradually subsided.
Starting with around 100 people, the number increased to around 500 despite a steady downpour drenching people who did not have raincoats or umbrellas. Organisers led the protest in reciting the Preamble of the Constitution in Kannada.
Although the call was given by the CJP as part of other similar protests held in Amritsar, Pune and Delhi, several Left student organisations lent support, as did others who were not part of any organisation but simply turned up out of frustration with the Union government’s inept handling of the irregularities in the CBSE evaluation process and the NEET question paper leaks.
Rahul Dayalu and his 10-year-old daughter Smaya stood side by side, right at the back of the knot of sloganeering protesters, holding umbrellas and sporting hand made posters hanging from their necks. They had come all the way from Mysuru just for the protest.
“When my cousin heard that the papers got leaked and that she had to write the exam again, she was very sad. So I came here to fight for her. I want these leaks to stop,” 10-year-old Smaaya told TNM. Her poster read “I am 10 But I still have my RIGHTS. #FAIREXAMS”
Rahul, a former IT employee, said, “I am here both for the girl in my family who wrote the exam this year and went through these difficulties, and for my daughter, who is 10. Once she comes of age and writes these exams, I would like this system to be corrected, to work well and work for the welfare of the students.”
His poster read “Am here for my daughter. #FAIREXAM #ZEROLEAK #HEMUSTGO”.
Father and daughter from Mysuru at the Cockroach Janata Party in Bengaluru. 
Two friends in their fifties, Malini and Lalitha had turned up to support the students’ protesting. “But all of us feel like cockroaches on some level. I am an entrepreneur. I believe in giving zero bribe to build a company. But government officials come and demand bribes as their rights and promise to shut us down. We’re all like cockroaches and we want a country that does not treat us like cockroaches… Is the government here to serve citizens or are citizens supposed to serve the government?”
“If I run a company, if something goes wrong, I am responsible. It’s the same way. If he’s (Dharmendra Pradhan) the education minister, he’s responsible,” Malini said.
Lalitha said that the situation of lakhs of students suffering “broke her heart”. “That’s killing their future. They need a better system which can guarantee them a safe education system. Whether rich or poor, all students are affected.”
On the lack of accountability or even acknowledgement on the part of the Union government, she said, “They don’t speak up, they’re not sensitive enough to address parents. Instead, the prime minister says, ‘Eat mangoes’ and ‘Swim in the summer. That’s his Mann ki Baat while students are on the roads protesting. Is that what we expect from the PM?”
Janani Gnanavelu, a student in Bengaluru and member of the All India Student Federation (AISF), said she was protesting against the question paper leak. “Those with money can write the exams over and over again, but what about poor people?” she said, adding that the fee for the NEET exam was a minimum of Rs 2,000.
Prashant, a scientist who was volunteering for the protest, said that people were calling the rally around the CJP as an internet revolution and Gen Z revolution. “But this is a revolution of public distress and people have come out to show their distress and anger against this system.”
Through the three hours, slogans were raised demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendhra Pradhan, against the labelling of students as ‘anti national’ for questioning flaws in the education system, against the communalisation of politics.
During the protest, several speakers referred to themselves and the protesters as cockroaches, in an attempt to reclaim the word from the insult thrown at students by the Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant who derogatorily referred to students as “parasites” and “cockroaches”.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been arrested for his association with the struggle for autonomy in Ladakh, talked about the ethical and moral corruption in the government which made it very difficult for those who had joined the civil services with hope.
“You must question the system which abuses and misuses students. We are here not just to change the examination system, and change the environment which produces morally corrupt people. We must be responsible as citizens, and call a spade a spade. This is important for us as citizens and for the government as well…”
On freedom of expression and accountability, he said, “The biggest deficit is not the fiscal deficit, it is a trust deficit. Or else, declare the country as totalitarian and not a democracy,” Sonam said.
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said, “24 lakh students have been affected by the NEET exam paper leak. Dharmendra Pradesh had accepted moral responsibility, but then he said there is no corruption. Then they formed a committee, but nothing has happened.”
Actor Prakash Raj said, “This generation is not doing mandir masjid politics or vote chori politics. This generation is asking questions, demanding accountability. These cockroaches are telling you (Union government) to either answer the questions, or get out.”
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said that those who raised their voices to question the system were being called cockroaches. “But we are fighting for ordinary students and justice,” he said.
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