HUMILITY isn’t a trait commonly associated with the Indian prime minister. Hence his education minister’s exit last weekend was greeted as a triumph by the crowds who had been demanding it for weeks, and acknowledged as an unusual retreat by analysts familiar with the Modi regime’s tendency to resist popular pressure.
In itself, Dharmendra Pradhan’s departure isn’t such a big deal even for a government that prides itself on avoiding ministerial resignations. He has been replaced by another Modi loyalist — RSS alumnus, Pralhad Joshi. Whether Joshi, who also holds other portfolios, is even inclined to redress the challenges in the educational sector is one among many questions.
The leak of questions in medical entrance exams in which 2.3 million aspirants were competing for fewer than 130,000 places necessitated a retake. At least 12 students died by suicide in the interim; several more are said to have died since then. The leaks are not uncommon: at least 152 are said to have occurred since 2014, when Narendra Modi became PM. As with other socioeconomic facets of India’s polity, such flaws were exacerbated rather than introduced by the BJP government that took over 12 years ago.
However, this regime cannot evade the charge that funding for the education ministry and support for the University Grants Commission has declined precipitously under its watch, or that almost 100,000 public schools have been shut. For students’ families, the average price of higher education has surged by over 90 per cent. Millions of parents mortgage or sell off what they own in a quest to educate their offspring. But even after some of those children obtain the necessary degrees, their job prospects often turn out to be dismal.
This is by no means exclusively an Indian issue. It has echoes throughout South Asia and the Global South, wherever a youth bulge collides with the unforgiving forces of neoliberal capitalism. However, India represents the world’s sixth largest economy, and aspires to ascend the ladder. The rage of the youth against barriers to advancement does not gel with that image.
This is by no means exclusively an Indian issue.
Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protesters were mollified by the concessions to their main demands, including no charges against the organisers. They protested largely peacefully, despite police provocations to thwart a march on parliament. They dispersed equally peacefully after their limited victories. The big question is what, if anything, comes next.
The rejoicing was well-deserved, but the most significant lesson from the unexpected upsurge is that it’s possible to push the regime to respond to popular pressure. Amid previous revolts, it has resorted to exacerbating sectarian, caste or ethnic divides in digging its way out of the hole. That turned out to be much harder when many of those out on the streets were middle-class Hindus whose parents in many cases had previously placed their faith in the BJP, but are now increasingly alarmed by its follies.
The consequences of this brief interlude in Indian politics remain clouded. It was an inspiring rebellion that sparked echoes not only across the nation but also among the diaspora in Europe and the Americas. And it was notable that among the mostly young rebels, differences of class, caste, faith and even ideology were at least temporarily obliterated. Abhijit Dipke, who instigated the revolt with a clever response to the Indian chief justice’s obnoxious remarks about unemployed ‘cockroaches’, has rightly noted that by ignoring the divisive efforts to provoke Hindu-Muslim or caste hostility, the issues that really matter can be directly targeted. And possibly resolved.
He and several other participants in the protests have also indicated that this is just the beginning. On Monday, the Cockroach Janta Party threatened to relaunch its protests after hundreds of arrests across BJP-ruled states in contravention of Saturday’s ceasefire. The Sangh Parivar has undoubtedly been rattled, given that quite a few protesters were motivated mainly by mounting distress at the hopeless direction in which Modi’s India has been headed. Some of the demonstrators indicated that they were sorely disappointed by the lack of support from cowardly Indian celebrities, barring respected stalwarts of the old guard such as Amol Palekar, Shabana Azmi and, above all, Naseeruddin Shah.
Speculating about India’s future or the effects of its recent predicament on neighbours is a mug’s game. But it’s worth recalling the student-led revolt that toppled Pakistan’s first military dictator almost six decades ago, paving the way for a short-lived democracy. That was a different time and place, but whatever comes next, the Delhi protests ought to be remembered by historians for inspiring hope at a time when the political opposition was floundering in the face of institutionalised fanaticism.
Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2026