Indian Prime Minister Vows to Punish Those Responsible for Exam Cheating

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged on Thursday to “strictly” punish those responsible for exam cheating, amid growing anger among students and youth who have been protesting in the streets of the capital, New Delhi, since Monday.

In his first comments on the ongoing protests, Modi said on X, “We have decided to expedite legal proceedings and strictly punish those involved in cheating.”

Indian police deployed tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters who marched toward Parliament in New Delhi on Monday, demonstrating against alleged cheating in university exams and demanding the resignation of the education minister.

The clashes left 180 people injured, two-thirds of them security personnel, according to police, while protesters claimed the number of casualties was several hundred.

In May, a cheating scandal led to the cancellation of results for more than two million candidates who had taken the medical entrance exam. The decision reportedly drove some of the examinees to commit suicide, according to media reports.

These are the largest protests faced by Modi since his re-election for a third term in 2024, and they were organized by the “Cockroach Party,” an online movement founded by an Indian student last May.