[Source: Reuters]
Leaders of India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement will meet the government on Friday to try and resolve a face-off over national examination paper leaks although they will not halt nationwide protests, a spokesperson for the group said.
The decision was announced hours after activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike overnight, raising hopes that the two sides could be moving toward a breakthrough in the crisis in which tens of thousands of angry youth have converged on the capital Delhi to demand the resignation of the education minister over the scandal.
The protests represent the biggest youth challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014. Opposition parties have echoed the movement’s demands and have disrupted the monsoon session of parliament that began this week.
Talks between government ministers and leaders of the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) would be held at a neutral venue, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das told reporters overnight.
“We hope that the government comes with an open mind and it will listen to the people of this country who have been out on the roads for so long,” he said. “We will explain our demands to them in greater detail. And we hope that the government will listen to us.”
The nationwide protests would, however, continue, Das added.
“We are not backing out,” he said. “Because, real awakening starts from the grassroots and that is what we really need.”
