{"id":35013,"date":"2026-07-22T10:54:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T10:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=35013"},"modified":"2026-07-22T10:54:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T10:54:52","slug":"police-detain-indian-opposition-leader-gandhi-as-protests-continue-to-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=35013","title":{"rendered":"Police detain Indian opposition leader Gandhi as protests continue to grow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Detained while picketing PM\u2019s residence, Gandhi demands Modi\u2019s resignation for \u2018destroying the future of India\u2019s youth\u2019.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Security
Security personnel arrest Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as he stages a sit-in protest calling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation outside the latter’s residence in New Delhi, India, July 21 [AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Police have detained Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as the student-led\u00a0\u201cCockroach\u201d protests<\/a>\u00a0against the government persist and expand, despite a harsh crackdown by authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gandhi and other opposition leaders were detained during a sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s residence on Tuesday evening. The picket was called to protest the earlier aggressive response to the student protests, which demanded educational reform and greater government accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police bundled Gandhi into a vehicle after he had called for the resignation of top government figures for their role in the crackdown on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as Modi, the opposition leader called for the departure of Home Minister Amit Shah and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Al Jazeera\u2019s Yashraj Sharma reported from the scene in New Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those detained were taken to a nearby police station, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pawan Khera, a member of Gandhi\u2019s Indian National Congress party, confirmed on social media that the politician had been forcibly taken by police. Gandhi\u2019s sister and fellow party member, Priyanka Gandhi, was among those who were arrested, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footage shared by Indian media appeared to show protesters attempting to shield Gandhi as police grabbed him as he lay on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was really chaotic, right outside the prime minister\u2019s residence where Gandhi had publicly called for people to assemble,\u201d said Sharma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A later post on social media asserted that there were clear signs that Gandhi had been injured during his detainment.<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incident comes as protests by the youth-driven Cockroach movement<\/a> continued for a second day elsewhere in New Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, police used tear gas and beat protesters with canes and batons<\/a> as thousands marched towards parliament, prompting a wave of public sympathy across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movement, which has expanded beyond students to include professionals and families, represents one of the most significant public challenges to Modi\u2019s government in recent years, reviving criticism over its handling of dissent and its use of force against protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gandhi wrote on social media that Modi must resign for \u201cdestroying the future of India\u2019s youth\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Government doesn\u2019t want to take any accountability [nor] does it want to have a debate on it in Parliament,\u201d said Gandhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands gathered on Tuesday at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in New Delhi, under heavy police presence, saying they would stay until the education minister resigns over alleged failures in India\u2019s examination system<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are going to continue our protest,\u201d said Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, which emerged just two months ago as a satirical protest after a Supreme Court judge described India\u2019s youth as \u201ccockroaches,\u201d but quickly evolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movement gained momentum over the weekend after prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose three-week hunger strike became a symbol of the protests, was forcibly taken to a hospital by police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video of police beating protesters and dragging them away on Monday spread on social media, fuelling public outrage. Footage showed young protesters crying and pleading with officers not to hit them, while others stood their ground and endured blows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delhi police said nearly 180 people were injured, including 118 security personnel and 60 protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sona Bisht, a 20-year-old student who was part of the protest, said the confrontation strengthened her resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the government thinks that doing this with Gen Z, they can stop us, then that won\u2019t happen. We are here talking about education, talking about securing our future. And till the time our demands are met, we will not move from here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference Link:- https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/21\/police-arrest-indian-opposition-leader-gandhi-as-protests-continue-to-grow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Detained while picketing PM\u2019s residence, Gandhi demands Modi\u2019s resignation for \u2018destroying the future of India\u2019s youth\u2019. Police have detained Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as the student-led\u00a0\u201cCockroach\u201d protests\u00a0against the government persist and expand, despite a harsh crackdown by authorities. Gandhi and other opposition leaders were detained during a sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s residence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[39,1566,2332,32252,32254],"class_list":["post-35013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-india","tag-students-protests","tag-unrest","tag-arrest-of-opposition-leaders","tag-use-of-force-against-students","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35013"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35015,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35013\/revisions\/35015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}