Students topple Education Minister amid protests, chant "Azadi" for freedom.

Authorities in New Delhi began painting over graffiti on the morning of July 26, after a wave of student protests had taken to the streets near the Jantar Mantar observatory. The artwork, which had featured the hashtag “#2026 Gen‑Z REVOLUTION!!!”, was part of a broader movement that had toppled Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan earlier in the month following an exam‑leak scandal. The government’s rapid response—sending workers to scrub the walls—underscored the intensity of the protests and the high stakes for those who had called for reform.

The protests were driven by a coalition led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth‑led group that had built momentum after the scandal. Students and activists gathered to demand accountability and greater transparency in the education system. A defining moment came when a young man climbed a tree and played a loudspeaker, blasting the line “Azadi, give me freedom!” from the Bollywood track “Azadi” in the film Gully Boy. The chant resonated across Delhi and spread to cities like Jaipur, Lucknow and Mumbai, turning a popular hip‑hop lyric into a rallying cry for the movement. The use of “Azadi”—literally meaning “freedom”—echoed earlier protests that had been criminalised under India’s sedition laws, reminding participants of a long history of dissent.

The footage that circulated online showed police beating students on Parliament Street, giving new life to the decade‑old track and galvanising support for the protestors. In the wake of the Education Minister’s resignation, the lights at Jantar Mantar were turned off, yet the yellow barricades remained. Protestors painted over them, leaving slogans such as “Umar, Sharjeel, Gulfisha were here before you” in red paint. The chant’s journey—from the feminist movement in Pakistan, through Kashmiri resistance, to mainstream Indian student politics—illustrates how a single slogan can evolve into a symbol of resistance under Modi’s government. The movement’s roots can be traced back to December 2016, when a JNU gathering discussing capital punishment sparked national media coverage that labelled students as “sympathisers of terrorists,” amplifying the controversy and cementing the chant’s place in political discourse.

The current wave of protests shows that youth activism remains a potent force in India. By re‑appropriating a popular song into a political anthem, students have kept the spirit of dissent alive while challenging the state’s narrative. The government’s decision to scrub the graffiti and the police’s use of force may temporarily dampen the protests, but the chant’s resonance across multiple cities suggests that the movement will persist. The outcome will depend on how the state balances security concerns with the right to protest, and on whether the youth can maintain their momentum in the face of mounting pressure.