‘Cockroach’ protests spread across India as leading activist ends hunger strike

Asia‘Cockroach’ protests spread across India as leading activist ends hunger strikeSonam Wangchuk said he ended his 26-day hunger strike after appeals from lawmakers. Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00The Cockroach Janta Party's ongoing protest movement in New Delhi on Friday. Vipin / APShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 24, 2026, 7:12 AM EDTBy Mithil AggarwalAn activist has ended his 26-day hunger strike that helped to galvanize India’s youth-led “Cockroach” protests, turning them into one of the most sustained challenges to the country’s leadership in years. Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.But demonstrators vowed Friday to press on despite Sonam Wangchuk’s decision to end his fast, as the protests spread from the capital New Dehli to other cities around the country including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. Wangchuk’s fast began amid protests about education reforms after alleged leaks in some of the country’s most competitive university entrance exams, but quickly became a lightning rod for public anger over education, economic inequality and the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Wangchuk said in a post on X that he ended his fast after appeals from dozens of members of parliament and following “a long negotiation on various conditions and in view of possible violence in the country.” Conceding that not all his demands were met, he said two federal lawmakers were present when he finished. However, Abhijeet Dipke, a Boston University graduate and founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), said the protests will continue until India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke in New Delhi on Friday.Arun Sankar / AFP via Getty Images“After all of this, we don’t accept anything less than a resignation,” he told supporters on Friday as protests showed no sign of dying down. CJP leaders have said they started talks with government offici...