India's 'most unserious' generation fighting for their country with grit and humour

The morning of a protest in Mumbai, 21-year-old Neerav gets dressed to fight for the future of India's youth.

But not in what you would expect.

He wears a Superman suit that he made himself.

For Neerav, the suit was armour — something to give him courage when he didn't know what the protests would bring.

"I was scared to be on the ground but I got a lot of support after wearing the costume," Neerav told the ABC.

"Wearing it meant I could be there as a helping hand, as a symbol of hope and make the situation a little less tense."

Thousands of young Indians have been protesting this week calling for the resignation of the education minister over the alleged leaking of the country's highly competitive medical entrance exam.

More than 2 million students across India were forced to resit the test and 20 reportedly took their own lives.

Neerav said he recalled his fellow protesters feeling "relieved" seeing Superman "among them".

From 'fit checks' to flowers

Across the country's protest hotspots, India's gen Z are using meme culture as they hope to bring the country into a new dawn.

There are reels of young women balancing their phones on barricades, mid-protest, filming "fit checks" — videos of their outfits.

"Today, I'm wearing jhumkas [South Asian earrings] and a spine," one woman said in her video. 

Other videos show dozens of youths running from police, syncing the chase to the theme music from Subway Surfers, an "endless runner" mobile game that inspired trends on TikTok.

Some show students walking up to police and offering them roses, only for them to be chased down and caned.

The protests have been organised in large part by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which started out as a satirical political movement.

Its name references comments made by Chief Justice Surya Kant, in which he compared some youth to "cockroaches".

Gen Z has been labelled India's "most unserious" generation.

But beneath the slang and despite the stereotypes that have long trailed them, India's young people are fighting for accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

And some say it's working.

Experts say India has not faced a protest movement of this size in more than a decade.

'Maybe we are not doomed to lose'

For 18-year-old Aryan, seeing protesters in Mumbai wear costumes of their childhood superheroes "inspired hope".

"It showed that we are inspired by iconic characters that have been known to fight for hope and [against] injustice," he told the ABC.

"And it inspires a hope that things can change, things can get better, maybe we are not doomed to lose."

India encompasses 28 states and eight union territories, 22 officially recognised languages, and thousands of distinct communities.

In Mumbai, Aryan witnessed this diversity converge, as people of all ages, genders, religions and classes came together to protest.

However, that unity was met with force.

Police crackdowns have left protesters beaten, tear-gassed, and detained across the country.

Children and seniors 'are not spared'

For five days in a row, Muskan has been protesting in Shivaji Park in the neighbourhood of Dadar, Mumbai.

She said she has witnessed multiple "human rights violations".

"I've seen police drag people into their vans. I've seen them forcefully remove a girl's hijab," she told the ABC.

Mumbai Police responded to the ABC's request for comment, saying claims of use of excessive force were "mischievously untrue".

"No such incident has taken place in Mumbai," a spokesperson for the Mumbai Commissioner of Police told the ABC.

"Recent public protests in the city have been managed professionally and strictly in accordance with law."

Siddharth, a 19-year-old student, described the response to the Delhi protests as "brutal".

"Police didn't care about human rights at all."

Siddharth said he witnessed Delhi Police hitting students with lathis [stick] "with full force". 

"Students and even minors were being hit," he said.

Delhi Police were contacted for comment.

The images and videos that have emerged from the protests revealed how "peaceful dissent is being suppressed in India", Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India's chair of board, said in a statement.

"The role of the authorities is to protect and facilitate peaceful protests, not to suppress them," he said.

"The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is recognised under international human rights law and the Indian constitution."

'India is changing'

Further down India's map, a very different scenario played out.

In South India's coastal city of Kozhikode, 22-year-old Misba described the protest she attended as "peaceful".

"The police were extremely nice and professional," she told the ABC.

"There was no use of force from them."

There, protesters exchanged compliments on their placards and recited poems.

When it came to gen Zers in India, Misba said they had resilience like no other.

"We have always known how to cope in difficult situations with humour," she said.

Misba said she felt "inspired" seeing so many people come together to support India's students.

"It made me feel like India is changing," she said.

"We are no longer seeing an issue and sitting quietly. We are standing up for ourselves and for our future."