'This is just the start': India's Gen Z protesters force out a minister, but what next?
Thousands of people turned out for the protests last week in different Indian cities
ByAbhik Deb
Reporting fromDelhi
In 12 years of Narendra Modi's rule in India , only one cabinet minister had previously resigned - over allegations of sexual misconduct.
So education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation on Saturday, after more than a week of intense street protests, became a defining moment - one many young people celebrated as a rare victory.
In the words of 22-year-old Sakhi, a student activist in Delhi, "for the first time, it felt like we can make things happen through protests".
Soon after Pradhan quit, social media seized on an old video of a senior Modi minister boasting that "resignations do not happen in our government", reflecting the confidence of the nationwide youth movement that had demanded his exit.
Sakhi says they grew up reading textbooks that spoke about the importance of dissent in a democracy, "but I did not see that around me in the Modi years".
On Instagram, Sakhi posted photos and videos of police assaults and detentions alongside reels mocking officers standing beside them. Many have been viewed millions of times.
Sakhi says the government failed to grasp the movement's momentum because it was out of touch with the language and platforms of the protests. "The government has a hold on mainstream media, Facebook and WhatsApp. But it missed Instagram."
Sakhi's Instagram reels have had millions of views
The latest education protests erupted in May after NEET, India's biggest medical entrance exam, was cancelled following a question paper leak, forcing nearly two million students to retake the test. More than 20 students died by suicide, with their families blaming the scandal.
The outrage was channelled by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), an online campaign launched after India's chief justice likened unemployed people with "fake and bogus degrees" to cockroaches. Its founders staged a sit-in in Delhi, demanding Pradhan's resignation, education reforms and compensation for the bereaved families.
Initially, the protest drew little attention. That changed on 18 July when Delhi police forcibly removed and hospitalised hunger-striking educator Sonam Wangchuk.
Two days later, tens of thousands marched on parliament at the CJP's call, triggering a police crackdown. Videos of baton charges, tear gas and pellet guns spread rapidly online, fuelling public anger and swelling the protests instead of suppressing them.
Somaya Korde was detained by the police at her home after she circulated an online message urging people to gather for a protest
The discontent among India's youth and the courage to voice it on the streets spread to other parts of the country.
Somaya Korde was detained at home after urging people online to join a 20 July protest in Mumbai, but went on to attend multiple demonstrations in the days that followed.
Pradhan's resignation, says the 26-year-old, "is not the end, but just the beginning".
"For this generation, this is the first time many of us have stepped out to protest. But there are larger issues to talk about, and we will talk about them," she says.
Korde, the first woman in her family to graduate in law and a recent civic election candidate, comes from a community officially classified as "backward" because of its historic social and economic disadvantage.
Like many young Indians, she saw education as her path to a better life, but says the NEET paper leak shattered her faith in a system that promised hard work would be rewarded.
"Schools and colleges are being privatised, paper leaks are happening, even if you finish education, there are not enough jobs. In a democracy, all this raises questions of accountability against the government," she says.
Harshvardhan Kadam, 18, posted a video of a police officer threatening to plant drugs on him which went viral
Her frustration is indicative of a larger picture.
India has the world's largest youth population, yet unemployment among 15- to 29-year-olds rose to 16.2% in June from 13.8% a year earlier, according to government data.
Even graduates are struggling: a 2026 Azim Premji University study found fewer than 7% of jobseekers secured permanent salaried work within a year, and fewer than 4% landed white-collar jobs.
The protests became a rallying point for young people to shed their caution and voice their frustration. Among them was 18-year-old Harshvardhan Kadam, who took a part-time job selling laptops after finishing school to help support his mother following his father's death last year.
On 23 July, a video Harshvardhan filmed during a protest march in Mumbai went viral. In the Instagram reel, now viewed 10 million times, a policeman is seen threatening to frame him in a fake drugs case while detaining him in a police van. The constable has since been suspended.
"I did not wish him to be suspended," Kadam told the BBC, "I just wanted to document how the police were treating me for participating in a peaceful protest." Now, reflecting on Pradhan's resignation he says: "This is just the start. This shows that next time the government will be scared when we raise our voices."
Varuni Poorva, an aspiring professor from Patna, has been a student activist for nearly 10 years
Swaraj Priyo, a 29-year-old screenwriter from Guwahati, says years of protesting under the Modi government had left him disillusioned by the lack of change. But this movement, he says, has restored hope: "This movement has brought back space for question and dissent and the reality check that all is not over."
A growing sense that the Modi government is on the back foot is palpable. Protest sites across the country now display posters declaring: "Pradhan was just an example. It's Modi's turn next".
But alongside this bullishness comes some apprehension.
Varuni Poorva, a 30-year-old aspiring professor from Patna and a student activist for nearly a decade, says Pradhan's resignation shows the Modi government can be "brought to its knees".
But she fears a "witch hunt" against protesters despite the government's pledge not to act against those who organised or joined the demonstrations.
Over the past week, she has sought anticipatory bail to guard against possible arrest. Police have charged more than 100 protesters with offences including attempted murder, and arrested more than 40.
Questions remain about the role Gen Z will play in India's politics in the years ahead
Human Rights Watch says, external that under Modi, Indian authorities have "routinely prosecuted activists, journalists, and peaceful protesters on fabricated counterterrorism and hate speech laws".
Despite fears of a crackdown, shared by many students' parents, Poorva believes the protests have given young people newfound confidence. With their deeper frustrations unresolved, she says, it will be difficult for the government to return to "business as usual".
At one protest site in Delhi, graffiti captures the mood: "We do not have jobs. If you wipe this out, we will come back tomorrow".
