MEA Rejects Viral Foreign Funding Claim on CJP Protests

The Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday said a viral post attributing a statement about foreign funding for the Cockroach Janata Party protests to its spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was misleading. The foreign ministry's fact-check unit on X posted that the viral post "misrepresents the statement of the Spokesperson."

Jaiswal's actual response during a July 24 briefing was limited to saying he had no information to share on the matter. The viral post had claimed Jaiswal said intelligence and investigation revealed no foreign funding in the protest.

The denial came as the 37-day-long CJP protest reached a turning point. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned Saturday, submitting his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pradhan said he was stepping down in the larger interest of students to ensure they do not become "trapped in a web of confusion."

What began as a satirical social media account after Chief Justice Surya Kant's remarks about protesting youth evolved into a movement demanding education reforms and accountability over the NEET-UG paper leak. The CJP withdrew its Jantar Mantar protest after the government assured it would address remaining demands, including compensation for families of students who died by suicide and withdrawal of FIRs against protesters.