India’s Modi promises fast-track courts for exam fraud fuelling protests

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, July 23, 2026, promised fast-track courts for people accused of leaking examination papers, responding publicly for the first time to growing youth-led protests over reported irregularities in national medical school entrance exams. Modi said on X that the government would seek quick and tough punishment for anyone damaging students’ futures.

The demonstrations have been organized under the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, described by Al Jazeera as a satirical online movement that began in May and has become a national protest platform. Protesters have occupied Parliament Street in New Delhi for three days, with many camping near the route linking Parliament House and Connaught Place. They are demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and broader changes to India’s testing system.

CJP representatives rejected Modi’s court proposal as inadequate, arguing that the problem is systemic rather than a lack of judicial speed. The group’s stated demands also include dropping cases against peaceful protesters and financial assistance of 10 million rupees, about $120,000, for each family of at least 12 students who died by suicide after recent exam cancellations. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke accused outsiders of provoking violence to undermine the protest.

Al Jazeera said police used tear gas and batons on Monday against demonstrators marching toward parliament, while smaller protests later appeared in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Patna. Its correspondent reported that tens of thousands joined the Monday march and that officials had shut 16 metro stations near the protest area. The unrest matters because it reflects wider frustration among young Indians over exam integrity, job pressures and accountability in Modi’s government.