Modi orders fast-track courts as Delhi youth protests over exam leaks turn violent
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that India will set up “fast-track” courts to prosecute people behind exam paper leaks, after days of
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that India will set up “fast-track” courts to prosecute people behind exam paper leaks, after days of youth-led protests in New Delhi demanding the resignation of the education minister. The announcement came hours after protesters and police clashed briefly on the capital’s streets late on Wednesday, with officers using tear gas and canes to push the crowd back.
The unrest has quickly grown into the biggest youth challenge Modi has faced since taking power in 2014. It is also the most serious political headache of his third term, which began in 2024. What started as an online outcry has spilled into the street, drawn in opposition parties and disrupted the monsoon session of parliament.
Clashes in the capital
Police moved in late on July 22 after students and young demonstrators gathered in New Delhi to press their demand for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Tear gas drifted through the protest site as officers used canes to force people back. The confrontation did not last long, but it sharpened a dispute that has already spread well beyond campus politics.
The crowd had come despite bans and repeated police action. Some protesters carried on with chants, others backed away quickly when the gas hit. The scene was tense. Brief. And loud.
The anger stems from exam paper leaks that protesters say have affected about 2 million students. That figure has given the movement its force. Students who expected an orderly path through India’s high-stakes exam system now say the system failed them, and they want someone at the top to answer for it.
Modi’s first public response
Modi’s comments on X were his first public reaction after days of growing demonstrations. He framed the response as a defense of students, saying: “Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth!” He added that the government would set up fast-track courts to ensure “swift and stringent punishment” for those involved in paper leaks.
“This continues our series of steps for safeguarding the interests of students,” he wrote. “Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared.”
The language was firm. So was the timing. By moving quickly after the latest clashes, Modi signalled that the government sees the crisis not just as a law-and-order issue, but as a test of credibility among young voters.
From online grievance to street protest
The protests began as a small online movement and have since become a major challenge to the prime minister. That shift matters. In India, exam leaks and recruitment scams can ignite anger fast, especially among young people who see public exams as a narrow doorway to jobs and security. When that doorway looks broken, frustration travels quickly from social media to the street.
Opposition parties have echoed the protesters’ demand for Pradhan’s resignation, and the movement has already caused political friction inside parliament. Lawmakers have been forced into open confrontation during the monsoon session, which began this week, adding another layer of pressure on the government.
Talks have been offered. So far, they have not cooled the mood. Protesters and opposition leaders still want a resignation, while the government is trying to contain the fallout with promises of reforms and tougher prosecutions.
Why the crisis matters beyond Delhi
The fight over exam leaks reaches beyond one ministry or one protest route in the capital. It speaks to a larger anxiety among Indian youth over jobs, corruption and whether merit still counts in a system where exam scandals can upend lives. That is why the movement has spread so fast, and why it has cut through normal political noise.
For Modi, the stakes are unusually high. The protests are the biggest youth challenge of his long tenure, and they come early in his third term. Any sustained erosion of trust among students and first-time job seekers could carry political weight well beyond this week’s clashes.
On Thursday, the government tried to draw a line under the unrest with a criminal response: special courts, quick trials, hard punishment. But the students on the streets want more than speed. They want accountability. And they have kept one demand in view throughout the week.
“Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared,” Modi said.