India's youth-led Cockroach movement and opposition parties have rejected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledge to set up fast-track courts to prosecute those behind examination paper leaks, saying the education minister must resign first.
Authorities in New Delhi have shut down sixteen metro stations and blocked mobile internet services across central Delhi ahead of nationwide rallies called for Friday.
Modi has now gone further, releasing a midnight video announcing plans for a strict new law on paper leaks.
Ishan Garg reports from New Delhi.
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OUT: “...parliament on Monday.”
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Ishan Garg in New Delhi says the protests have expanded well beyond the original exam leak scandal, with students voicing frustration over rising education costs and failures in government recruitment examinations.
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Ishan Garg in New Delhi says opposition backing has given the Cockroach movement greater momentum, but analysts warn it also risks the protests being dismissed as politically driven rather than a genuine expression of youth frustration.
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