Well, it looks like those cockroaches really got some stuff done. What a success story! Amazing what the internet can do.

Indian youth protesters have called off weeks of demonstrations and celebrated in the streets after the education minister quit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government bowed to demands including calls to fix a cheating-prone exam system.

The worst political crisis of Modi’s third term in office had peaked this week when thousands of protesters marched on parliament, with police using tear gas to control them. Young voters form a critical base of his Bharatiya Janata Party. But youths calling themselves “cockroaches” had taken to the streets since late June, after national exam papers were leaked, forcing a resit that affected 2 million students and galvanising anger about the lack of prospects for young Indians. The resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the students’ primary demand, came as a surprise because Modi has a reputation for refusing to act under pressure.

Modi’s party faces key state elections next year. Similar youth-led protest movements brought down governments in neighbouring Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh in recent years.

→ India’s “cockroach” protesters claim surprise victory as government accepts their demands, The Sidney Morning Herald

It seems these “Discord revolutions” are a new factor on the political scene that has to be reckoned with going forward.

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