Modi replaces TV anchors with a reel but the crisis isn’t scrolling away

“Here comes PM Modi’s video! This is BIG!” tweeted Sudhir Chaudhary. 

“12 million views for a message recorded on selfie mode and posted just after midnight. Quite a departure from (the) earlier style of communication. Innovative and effective,” tweeted Smita Prakash. 

“PM Narendra Modi always talks about the youth. When the NEET paper leaked, he stepped forward and announced fast-track courts. Because in a democratic country like India, courts are the means to get justice,” proclaimed Amish Devgan. 

So what was this “BIG” video everyone was talking about? 

Well, after choosing silence over the month-long protests in Delhi led by the Cockroach Janta Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a rare selfie video on Instagram late Thursday night acknowledging the gravity of the situation. 

The PM assured that fast-track courts will be set up to “ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks”. An assurance that appeared hollow on a day the CBI clarified why it gave a clean chit to Sanjeev Mukhiya, the alleged mastermind of the 2024 NEET paper leak. It was the same case in which he had already secured bail back in July 2025 after the CBI failed to file a chargesheet in time. 

Modi also announced that a law would be introduced in Parliament to address paper leaks. He also announced that the cabinet would take up the issue in a meeting on Friday.

But the one thing Modi didn’t get around to, of course, was the protesters’ central demand: the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Though the biggest takeaway from the PM’s midnight message may be in how he said it instead of what he said. He didn’t address the nation through Godi news channels, but released a vertical video, cut for reels and shorts. (Was he reading something from a …? Ah, nevermind.) And instead of addressing the audience with his patented “Mitron”, he opted for “Friends”. 

Meanwhile, activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk – whose forcible removal from Jantar Mantar by the Delhi Police had escalated the protests in the first place – broke his 26-day hunger strike late Thursday night at Medanta Hospital, Gurugram, in the presence of two Union ministers. 

Rather than insist on Pradhan’s resignation, Wangchuk said the ministers had assured him the government would consider “adequate compensation for the families of the students who had committed suicide following the examination paper leak”, along with assurances of “a meaningful discussion in Parliament to ensure accountability including consideration of the resignation” of the education minister. The government made no guarantees. 

Probably delighted by the first real piece of good headline his government has got this month without giving up anything, Modi then posted his own message on X, offering health tips to Wangchuk: “I urge Sonam ji to follow doctors’ advice and regain his previous weight as soon as possible. I pray to the Lord that Sonam ji remains healthy.”

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, reacting to the news, expressed gratitude and relief at Wangchuk’s decision to break his hunger strike, but said they will continue to protest at Jantar Mantar till Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. CJP spokespersons are due to meet the Union government at the Constitution Club later today to discuss their demands.

Read together, it looks rather like the government simply outlasted Wangchuk’s resolve — there has been no commitment yet to sack Pradhan, nor to compensate the families of the students who died by suicide following the NEET-UG paper leak earlier this year. Moreover, according to the Hindustan Times, 11 FIRs have been registered at five police stations in New Delhi district "in connection with the alleged violence against security personnel" during the July 20 protest march.

And as if to complete the picture, our educational institutions seem far more invested in producing compliant students than in reckoning with the questions being asked at Jantar Mantar. 

Delhi University’s official account urged “all students... to stay away from Jantar Mantar and to prioritise their safety and compliance with the law”, adding that students should “exercise caution as a significant amount of fake and misleading content is being created and circulated to fuel the situation.” 

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) chipped in, posting on its official account that “in accordance with the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India's directions on public demonstrations, you are requested to refrain from participating in or visiting gatherings at or around Jantar Mantar, New Delhi”, warning that violations “may invite legal consequences under applicable laws as well as disciplinary action under the University's code of conduct”. JNU added that students were “encouraged to uphold the values of academic responsibility and responsible citizenship.”

Amid all this, the crowds at Jantar Mantar show no sign of thinning. People from across the country continue to arrive in the capital to join the gathering, with ordinary citizens forming human chains to keep confrontation with the police at bay. 

But the state never sleeps. According to The Indian Express, two Delhi Police surveillance vans are sitting outside Kerala House near Jantar Mantar – a “Mobile Command and Control Vehicle” streaming live CCTV to officers on site, and the AI-driven “Ikshana” van — which runs the footage through facial recognition against a police database. These vans have been deployed since the 2023 G20 Summit. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is technically the law meant to govern this, but it carves out broad exemptions for government agencies, police included, from most of the safeguards it otherwise sets out.

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