India’s court orders criminal charges against student protest participants dropped
India’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to drop criminal charges against participants in student protests that lasted seven weeks in New Delhi. The youth movement Cockroach Janta Party called the decision a “major victory for students.” The ruling came just over a week after the movement warned of a possible new protest march.
The protesters demanded education reforms amid allegations of corruption in the examination system. According to NPR World, the movement’s name originated from an internet meme, and it secured the education minister’s resignation and became one of the most serious challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in recent years.
Communication with Generation Z
After several weeks of silence, Modi posted a short video on Instagram saying that he was aware of the impact of corruption in the examination system on young people and was working to resolve the issue. In the following days, he posted several more such videos, addressing the protesters as “friends.” Other ministers also began posting on Instagram more frequently.
Protest participants and their supporters, predominantly digitally active members of Generation Z, used Instagram and Snapchat to coordinate and distribute parody videos about the government. Rajat Sethi, a representative of the conservative think tank India Foundation, said that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had realized the need for a new format of communication with young people. After the protests, India’s Ministry of External Affairs began using Snapchat, while some lawmakers used youth slang in parliamentary speeches.
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Reports of persecution and censorship
At the same time, local media reported that police had brought criminal charges against thousands of people. The Software Freedom Law Centre human rights organization told NPR that there had been unprecedented restrictions on content on Meta and X platforms, primarily posts criticizing Modi and his government. Amnesty International India called the use of batons, tear gas and pellet guns during July clashes “state-sanctioned violence disguised as crowd control.”
Mumbai model Rhia Ahir, whose photograph became one of the symbols of the movement after she blocked the path of a police vehicle carrying detained students, reported online harassment. According to her, on the same day that she approached police over online abuse, law enforcement officers also filed a complaint against her for participating in the protests. Local media also wrote about a police complaint against a 15-year-old girl from Noida after a video was shared in which she made insulting remarks about Modi.
The Indian Express, citing government data, reported that from March to July authorities issued nearly 200,000 orders to block content on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. The Indian government does not disclose the reasons for such orders.
