Student protests push Modi into rare midnight address
PM announces tougher penalties, fast-track courts after days of nationwide demonstrations over India's medical entrance exam scandal
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence over the country’s escalating student protests with a rare late-night video address on Thursday, announcing plans for tougher anti-cheating laws after days of demonstrations over a nationwide medical entrance exam scandal.
In two public statements issued within a single day, including a video released close to midnight, Modi acknowledged the seriousness of examination paper leaks and pledged to introduce legislation creating fast-track courts and harsher punishments for those involved. The announcement came after days of sustained protests in New Delhi and several other cities, where students have demanded accountability over alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), India’s highly competitive medical school entrance examination.
“I know that paper leaks are no trivial matter. It is extremely painful for millions of students and their parents,” Modi said in the video, adding that the government had already prepared a draft law that would be placed before the Cabinet before being introduced in Parliament next week.
According to the prime minister, the proposed legislation would establish fast-track courts to prosecute those involved in examination paper leak cases and impose stricter penalties on them. He said authorities had already arrested several suspects in connection with the scandal but acknowledged that the government needed to go further to restore public confidence in India’s examination system.
Modi also defended his government’s handling of the crisis, pointing to the cancellation of the NEET and the subsequent re-test, which he said had been conducted in record time before results were declared earlier this month.
Modi made no reference to one of the protesters’ central demands: the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Demonstrators accuse the minister of failing to prevent repeated examination irregularities and argue that meaningful reforms cannot begin without political accountability at the highest level.
The prime minister’s intervention followed nearly a week of intensifying demonstrations led by students and youth groups. The largest protests have been centered at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar following a police crackdown on the “Sansad Chalo” (March to Parliament) rally earlier this week, during which dozens of protesters were injured. Demonstrations have since spread to several other parts of the country, turning the examination scandal into a broader movement over government accountability.
Hours before the late-night video, authorities announced a series of senior bureaucratic appointments, including replacing Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi with Naresh Pal Gangwar, a senior civil servant who previously headed the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
The reshuffle, however, did little to pacify protesters, who continue to insist that replacing officials within the bureaucracy falls far short of addressing their concerns. Student groups have maintained that Pradhan’s resignation remains their principal demand, while some protesters have also called for action against those responsible for the police crackdown on demonstrators in the capital.
Political pressure has also intensified inside Parliament, where opposition parties have repeatedly sought to force a debate on the examination scandal. The opposition has rejected the government’s attempts to move forward without addressing demands for the education minister’s removal.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who has joined demonstrations over the issue in recent days, dismissed Modi’s late-night address as inadequate.
“Mr. Modi, our students are demanding Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Don’t insult their intelligence with this pathetic midnight video,” Gandhi wrote on social media, urging the government to dismiss the education minister, punish those responsible for using force against student protesters and issue a public apology.
The NEET controversy has evolved from allegations of examination malpractice into the most sustained youth-led challenge faced by the Modi government in recent years. While the prime minister’s promise of tougher laws marks his first direct intervention since the protests erupted, demonstrators have shown little sign of backing down, arguing that stronger punishments for future paper leaks cannot substitute for accountability over a crisis they say has already shattered the trust of millions of students competing for limited seats in India’s medical colleges.
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
