India PM Modi Forgives Students Who Insulted Him in 'Cockroach' Protests

New Delhi, India – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pardoned students who used vulgar language against him during protests last month, describing them as “misguided children” who need to be shown the “right path” rather than prosecuted or punished.

The biggest political crisis of Modi’s third term stems from the youth-led “Cockroach” protest movement, which emerged in May after a crucial exam was cancelled due to a paper leak, forcing more than 2 million candidates to retake it the following month.

The “Cockroach Party” movement – a self-styled name alluding to a Supreme Court chief justice’s remark calling unemployed youth and activists “cockroaches” – initially began as a social media campaign using viral memes to demand education reforms. But it later grew into a mass movement, attracting tens of thousands of supporters in the capital New Delhi and inspiring similar protests in multiple cities across the country.

The protests ended after Modi’s government agreed to meet all demonstrators’ demands, including the resignation of the education minister, and pledged not to pursue any criminal cases against protesters. However, despite Modi’s assurances, state governments controlled by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed cases against hundreds of protesters after some clashed with security forces and shouted offensive slogans against the prime minister.

Supporters of Modi’s Hindu nationalist politics have publicly identified female student protesters, including teenagers, on social media, accompanied by threats of rape and murder, and called on local authorities to prosecute them.

“These are misguided children. Showing them the right path is our duty. Punishing them, forcing them to face court, or applying social pressure will not change the situation,” Modi said in a video posted on social media over the weekend. He noted the “disgusting” language directed at him and his late mother during the protests.

“It was a cultural shock to see our daughters using such words,” he added. “I want to forgive them.”

Tensions between protesters and government forces flared in several places last month, including in New Delhi, where those attempting to march to parliament were stopped with tear gas, rubber bullets, and batons.

“Modi remained silent over the brutality against students in the capital and then went on Instagram to play the victim,” Radhika Kumar, a 21-year-old student at Delhi University, told Al Jazeera. “These government supporters have been abusing women online for years, threatening to silence them. Now our prime minister is giving us a moral lecture.”

The movement said on Monday that “hundreds” of students had been arrested in various states, violating the government’s pledge to drop cases against protesters.

The opposition is pressuring the government to fire Home Minister Amit Shah, a close Modi aide responsible for law and order in Delhi, over the crackdown on students. The protests have also prompted Modi’s government to introduce a bill amending public exam management laws, proposing tougher prison terms and fines for those who leak exam papers.

In the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, police have also filed a case against Meta India director Arun Srinivas over videos posted on the company’s Facebook platform describing Modi in an “insulting” manner, a senior police officer said on Friday. A Meta spokesperson said: “We are in touch with the concerned authorities and cooperating to address the issue.” Since February, platforms must remove content found to violate the law by courts or the government within three hours, instead of the previous 36 hours.