Bruises on the face, tricolour in hand, limping around the crowded Jantar Mantar – India didn’t want to see this image. Broken bones, bleeding noses and crying on the street… young people who were tied to their mother’s apron-strings till the other day getting mercilessly beaten up by police and the accompanying goons weave a frightening image of a nation-in-crisis. Who else to blame other than all the king’s horses, dogs and men?Youth is the country’s future. India will survive and grow on their dreams and energy. Young men lying in hospital with pellet injuries in the face and chest, young girls being tortured by police in Delhi, Mumbai and elsewhere, thousands running around in panic to escape batons and teargas cells…the least such frightening scenes should trigger is an unconditional apology from the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and a collective outpouring of remorse from the de-sensitised ruling party ecosystem. But the prime minister is doing what he knows best – trying to fool the youth by posting silly midnight videos instead of apologising for the police violence. His old technique of surveillance and repression still forms the backbone of the government’s approach.Thanks to a section of brainwashed Indians, a reprehensible cocktail of whataboutery, blame-game and vilification campaign was on display instead of grief and regret. The BJP spokespersons and the allied media equated the stray incidents of retaliation from the agitated crowds with the brutal repression by the state machinery. Large crowds tend to lose control in difficult circumstances but the police and paramilitary forces are duty-bound to exercise restraint and respond according to civilised norms and laid-down procedures. In case of impending trouble, forces are supposed to issue warnings and use water-cannons instead of resorting to lathicharge and firing teargas cells. Democratic systems understand the difference between an injured policeman and an injured young girl.What the nation witnessed is not a sense of guilt embedded in the government’s psyche but illogic and hatred for every critic and dissenter. A BJP member of parliament said, “Pradarshankari chhatra nahin bhediye the… (the protesters were wolves, not students).” Bhediya? Who will tell the BJP wolves don’t plead with the tormentors. Wolves don’t sing and dance in protest. Wolves don’t appeal to the conscience of the cruel system with creative placards. Wolves attack. Children didn’t. Some of them stopped eating. Some intensified verbal criticism. Others patiently waited for a symbolic gesture of regret by the Government in the form of the education minister’s removal.The nation is in turmoil. At least 20 students have died by suicide because of paper leaks. Thousands went into depression and abandoned their career plans. Millions of parents had to endure the pain.But the incompetent minister had to be protected. After all, the king’s horses, dogs and men are more precious than the ordinary citizens. Modi waited till the last minute to see if he could brazen it out. But when violence, threats and repression didn’t work, he finally relented. Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. But Modi can’t cut the corresponding losses. There is bound to be a recurring political fallout because the painful experience showed the social contract with Modi had lapsed.The students, however, are now unwilling to forgive and forget. This agitation achieves its desired objective or not, the younger generation is now totally disenchanted with Modi. The struggle will continue, reappearing in different forms. The atmospherics appear to hum, “Mere zunoon ka nateeja zaroor niklega/ isi siyaah samadar se noor niklega…”. This couplet by poet Ameer Qazalbash translates to: “The outcome of my passion will surely emerge/ from this very dark ocean, light will shine forth.”People participate in a protest against the NEET-UG paper leak and examination irregularities at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi, Friday, July 24, 2026. Photo: PTI Photo/Kamal Kishore.Targeting ModiEven if we are to lend ourselves to the belief that there was a tacit understanding with some elements of the protest, a majority of participants were truly angry with the Union government and targeted Narendra Modi, not Dharmendra Pradhan. The problem with the government was that these students fell outside the coercive ambit of CBI and Enforcement Directorate. Unlike political opponents, they couldn’t be dragged to bargaining counters through blackmail or allurements. Probably unaware of the consequences, these young boys and girls unleashed their creative energy with gay abandon, at times even crossing the limits of decency.Though acerbic slogans like “chowkidar chor hai” were popularised by Rahul Gandhi long ago, Indians were largely accustomed to flattering chants like “Har har Modi, ghar ghar Modi.” Idolatry isn’t new in politics but Modi’s self-proclaimed “non-biological” divinity further spiced up the discourse. The disgruntled youth blew into the scene with derisive irreverence, shocking the world with their political insight and bravery. Political parties need to learn the art of cutting sarcasm from them. The most powerful strikers were girls who sang and delivered biting punchlines with disarming innocence and beauty. Who will forget the jingles that bombed the meticulously crafted image of the prime minister’s robust persona?Despite the expressions used in the slogans, the frustration emanates from the realisation that Modi’s “strong leadership” has harassed citizens more than creating a sense of security. Leader’s strength is not meant to be used for controlling citizens. It is to bolster national security. The Congress has been calling him a “coward” for the timidity shown in responses to hostile China and US.The protest site was inundated by piercing political messages. One placard said: “Jhola main khareed deti hun/ aap bas nikal lo (I will buy the bag, you just leave).” This was a response to his famous dialogue, “Arre mera kya bigad lenge ji. Main to fakeer hun jhola utha ke chal padunga (I am an ascetic, I will pick up my bag and leave).” Children are aware that no other prime minister resorted to such cunning tricks to stay in power. Twisting his defining catchphrase – Modi hai toh mumkin hai (if Modi is here then it is possible) – one placard said, “Modi hai toe mushkil hai (if Modi is here then it is difficult).”People honestly confessed they were hypnotised by Modi’s political hyperbole but they discovered the truth over time as the Government’s failures and misdeeds got clearly projected. One young boy showed his bandaged hand, saying, “I voted for BJP with the same finger that was broken by the police assault.” Another boy held a banner, “Student the isi liye pel diya/ rapist hote to party mein le lete (I am a student, so you hit me, had I been a rapist you would have taken me into your party).”If Modi is searching for answers as to why his credibility dipped so low, he should look into his own hypocritical behaviour. People watch this ugly drama where the prime minister publicly condemns somebody for stealing thousands of crores and makes him the deputy chief minister in the BJP government after a few days. Leaders with dubious credentials and criminal records were made ministers and chief ministers. Political deceit isn’t erased from public memory because television news anchors portray it as a masterstroke. Our youth showed they could see through the smokescreen erected by the mainstream media and mustered the courage to publicly expose the prime minister.A protester holds a placard during the ongoing protest over the NEET-UG examination irregularities at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi, Thursday, July 23, 2026. Photo: PTI.Rude awakeningThe younger generation was broadly seen as carefree and apolitical. People thought they don’t care about anything and the google-search facility crippled their critical faculties. This movement demolished that perception. Their brilliance has altered perceptions overnight. Young people confessed on video their dismay over parent’s blind loyalty to BJP and Narendra Modi, expressing anguish at their inability to see the ground reality. Many of them revisited subjects like democracy and nationalism, proudly announcing that they discovered how fallacious the Sangh Parivar’s narratives are. They argued with parents about the desirability of communal politics and tutored them on constitutional principles. Children going to Jantar Mantar to join the protest defying their parent’s diktats became a routine affair over the past few days.This protest has created a rift among the loyal BJP supporters as well. Some hardcore Modi bhakts, who detested even a single critical reference to BJP, are singing a different tune after two incidents – Ram temple theft and the insensitive handling of students’ agitation. “Modi is tired now, time for Yogi to take over” – this is the dominant sentiment among them. Surprisingly, many BJP supporters didn’t defend the government and criticised the mainstream media for not condemning police repression boldly. It is too early to predict a shift in their voting pattern but the disenchantment with Modi is indisputably complete.That is not to suggest that these occurrences have purged bigoted minds. There are people incapable of rational thinking and they readily internalise the spurious material they get on WhatsApp. Sangh Parivar activists are doing their best to counter negative perceptions. What has changed is that their captive audiences are either demoralised or not receptive. Still, bigotry and idiocy are so deep-rooted that you find people who blame Muslims and Pakistan for both the theft in Ram temple and the ongoing paper-leak protest! They go so far as to brand the lawyers who read out the preamble of the Constitution on the Supreme Court premises as pro-Pakistan, funded by anti-India forces. The lawyers did that exceptional act to underline that the purpose of the Supreme Court was to deliver justice. That the lawyers felt the need for doing this highlights the depth of the national crisis.Sanjay K. Jha is a political commentator.