Thousands detained in India in massive anti-government protests

Indian authorities released the leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party on Sunday, after security forces detained thousands of protesters during massive anti-government demonstrations. The satirical party — which in July forced the resignation of India’s education minister — is at the center of youth-led protests that roiled the Indian capital on Saturday, prompted by what the Cockroaches and others allege was a politically motivated purge of voter rolls designed to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. One of the protesters’ chief demands is the resignation of Chief ​Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, but “what started as an anti-Gyanesh movement has now become an anti-Modi movement,” a Delhi journalist argued, adding that the prime minister must now choose between “ short-term shows of strength [and] long-term stability.”