E-Paper
Sign In
India's student protest escalates; more security deployed, court reviews police action
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition and Congress MP, launched a scathing attack on the central government over the “rigged education system”
- PUBLISHED: Wed 22 Jul 2026, 5:57 PM
India deployed 20 additional companies of the Central Reserve Police Force to Delhi on Wednesday as protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the Congress and other opposition groups continued in the capital, prompting heightened security and legal scrutiny over police action.
Ashutosh Ranka of the CJP described it as “the biggest movement in India’s post-independence history.” He warned that “millions more” would descend on Delhi if the government did not accept their demands. Many opposition leaders dressed in black protested outside parliament. They demanded the resignation not just of Dharmendra Pradhan, the education minister, but also of key BJP leader and home minister Amit Shah.
Recommended For You
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition and Congress MP, launched a scathing attack on the central government over the “rigged education system” in the country. There were 152 exam paper leaks over the past decade, but with ‘zero convictions’, he said. Addressing a news conference, Gandhi said it was clear to everybody “that our education system, which was the best in the world, is today a rigged system.” According to him, 75 million students and their families are affected by the paper leaks, most of whom are from middle-class and low-income families.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said that “the man who is running this entire system, the man who is finally accountable for all this, should have the decency to apologise to the students for what has happened.” The government wants to push the issue under the carpet, “but we want that Pradhan goes, the Prime Minister apologises, and the education system changes,” he added.
Pradhan, who is at the centre of the controversy, however, responded at Gandhi, accusing him of using students as “political tools” to disrupt parliament. “Even after the Government conveyed its readiness for a comprehensive discussion, the Congress chose political spectacle over democratic debate. Their objective was never solutions for students; it was disruption for political headlines,” he wrote on X. “The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign. They deserve certainty over chaos, solutions over slogans and responsibility over disruption.”
The Delhi high court also took up petitions on Wednesday against the “brute force” by the police against the CJP protesters. When the additional solicitor general told the court that the unruly crowd had attacked the police and injured many of them and the petitions were aimed at “hogging the limelight”, the judge responded: “How can you say this is a publicity petition?” The court sought responses from the Indian government and the Delhi police regarding petitions concerning the use of excessive force against protesters.
Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh visited Sonam Wangchuk, the activist who had gone on a hunger strike during the current protest movement, at a hospital in Gurugram and urged him to appeal to the students to avoid further escalation. Wangchuk told them that he would end his hunger strike if he were assured no punitive action would be taken against students and other protesters.
"I sincerely hope that this faith in democratic institutions is not further undermined by any legal cases, harassment or vindictive action against those who participated," he told the government.
