Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Thursday “stringent punishment” for those involved in exam fraud that has fuelled student anger, in his first direct comments tied to major protests challenging his government.

The comments came after thousands of protesters, led by the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, rallied in New Delhi on Wednesday, triggering fresh clashes with the police.

“Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth,” he said in a post on X, promising to set up fast-track courts to punish those involved in question paper leaks.

“Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared,” he added.

The protesters, mostly young students, have been demanding the resignation of the education minister over exam paper leaks since last month.

Protests snowballed on Monday after police fired tear gas and baton-charged tens of thousands of demonstrators as they tried to march to parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session.

As tensions escalated, protesters responded by hurling stones, marking the largest street rally in the capital in about five years.

At least 178 people, including security personnel, were injured in the violence, according to the police.

The CJP, which has millions of followers on social media, emerged in May initially as a satirical response to Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly likening young people to “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a court hearing.

The movement has since broadened its agenda to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what it describes as Modi’s increasingly authoritarian style of governance.

The protests have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Hindu-nationalist Modi since his re-election for a third term in office in 2024.

A series of exam irregularities have undermined trust in India’s testing system, including the leak of a medical entrance question paper that forced more than two million candidates to retake the test.

Another dispute involving the online marking of examinations taken by nearly two million high school students has further fuelled public anger.