Modi vows punishment for exam fraud fuelling India protests

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to set up fast-track courts to punish those involved in question paper leaks.

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NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Thursday (Jul 23) "stringent punishment" for those involved in exam fraud that has fuelled student anger, in his first direct comments tied to major protests challenging his government.

The comments came after thousands of protesters, led by the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, rallied in New Delhi on Wednesday, triggering fresh clashes with the police.

"Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth," he said in a social media post, promising to set up fast-track courts to punish those involved in question paper leaks.

"Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared," he added.

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The protesters, mostly young students, have called for the education minister to quit over the exam paper leaks.

Protests snowballed on Monday after police fired tear gas and baton-charged tens of thousands of demonstrators as they tried to march to parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session.

Protesters responded by hurling stones, marking the largest street rally in the capital in about five years.

At least 178 people, including security personnel, were injured in the violence, according to the police.

The CJP, which has millions of followers on social media, emerged in May initially as a satirical response to Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly likening young people to "cockroaches" and "parasites" during a court hearing.

The movement has since broadened its agenda to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what it describes as Modi's increasingly authoritarian style of governance.

CHALLENGE TO MODI

The protests have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Modi since his re-election for a third term in office in 2024.

On Wednesday, crowds spilt out on streets outside the Jantar Mantar site, resulting in late-night clashes with police.

"Yesterday (Wednesday) Delhi Police cracked down heavily on protesters outside Jantar Mantar," CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka said in a social media post.

The internet had been shut down and people "brutally" thrashed, he said.

Delhi Police said protesters attacked officers with stones and plastic bottles, causing "serious injuries".

The protest movement has received a major boost from opposition parties who have been disrupting parliament proceedings and demanding an apology from Modi over Monday's police action.

"You are the one who has harmed the future of our youth the most," Rahul Gandhi of the Congress Party said on X on Thursday, referring to Modi.

"You allowed and encouraged the total capture and destruction of our education system - and protected every person responsible for it."

The movement has spread beyond the capital, with smaller demonstrations springing up Wednesday in major cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Patna.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, students gave a call for a "torch rally" on Thursday evening to express their solidarity with protesters in Delhi.

Youth-led protests in Bangladesh in 2024 toppled the government of Sheikh Hasina and led to her ouster.

A series of exam irregularities in India have undermined trust in the testing system, including the leak of a medical entrance question paper that forced more than two million candidates to retake the test.

Another dispute involving the online marking of examinations taken by nearly two million high school students has further fuelled public anger.

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