NEET paper leak: PM Modi moves to bell the cat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervened in the May 2026 NEET paper leak crisis after a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar turned violent on 20 July. The New Delhi clashes injured more than 150 security personnel and 60 demonstrators. In a midnight video message, PM Modi announced the formation of fast-track courts to ensure swift trials (within 3 months) and stringent punishment (10 years jail) and fines (Rs.10 crores) for individuals involved in examination paper leaks. Relevant government authorities and officials were given direct orders to execute and set up the process immediately. After the cabinet meeting, the government intends to table the bill in Parliament as early as Monday, seeking its passage. The opposition’s response will reveal the true intentions of its leaders. We must wait and see.

The question paper leaks have been happening in Bharat for decades across different governments and over many years, not under just one administration. The pattern appears to cut across political parties and administrations because the reported cases include different states and time periods, not under a single government. The problem seems more systemic than partisan, involving organized leak networks hand-in-glove with certain coaching centres, weak security, and poor accountability. No government has made serious attempts to address this issue, so far. The pattern is familiar. After every paper leak, routine investigations are conducted, cases filed, a few are arrested and released on bail as the cases continue forever, till the next leak happens and the cycle repeats.

Over the period, the students’ patience is running out, and cracks have started appearing slowly and steadily as the frustration and anger after every paper leak builds up. Students don’t have a fair, neutral outlet to have their problems addressed. The government refuses to listen to the students and is indifferent to their problems. The mainstream media refuses to discuss students’ problems as they are more concerned about their own TRPs.

In this scenario, there is a sort of vacuum that is created.  Abhijeet Dipke filled this vacuum by weaponizing an out-of-context comment about cockroaches by Chief Justice Surya Kant to launch a satirical online movement and meme-driven parody that became Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). Returning to Bharat from the US, he positioned himself as a saviour for disgruntled students affected by the NEET exam paper leak.

Whatever Abhijeet’s personal motives may be, and despite his apparent lack of genuine concern for the students, he successfully addresses the issues that affect them. He forcefully talks about NEET question paper leaks that nobody else does – not the government, not the teachers, not the media, and not even the parents. He talks of the accountability of the Education Minister and demands his resignation. These are all valid points, and students are influenced by him to join the protest.

However, the government’s swift action this time in cancelling and rescheduling the exams, declaring the results within two months, and permitting a protest at Jantar Mantar ultimately derailed Abhijeet’s plans, resulting in poor attendance at the protest site.

One big drawback of any public movement in Bharat is their susceptibility to political hijacking. When a movement is co-opted, the core narrative shifts into a partisan battle between the ruling party and the opposition, ultimately diluting the original cause. This is exactly what happened with the NEET protest with the entry of opposition leaders from AAP, Congress, the Bhim Army and the Samajwadi Party along with Jammu and Kashmir’s prominent father-son duo. A race between these leaders started as they vied to become the sole champion of the student community by engaging in intense mudslinging against each other.

Joining the commotion, Left-leaning Dafli Gang of JNU, SFI and people from the most peaceful community added the muscle. Not to be left behind are the usual suspects from Bollywood’s C-grade gang, erstwhile psephologists and Andolan jeevis, standup comedians, leftovers of TMC voicing their support to the CJP.  The CJP also enlisted a climate activist as a sacrificial lamb, forcing him to endure a 26-day hunger strike while party insiders feasted in front of him three times a day. The amount of money being spent on the protest points towards an unending supply of overseas funding through NGOs and political parties in India.

I always believe that public movements need to be outcome based in the long term. On one hand when people oppose specific policies, they should channel their energies into proposing constructive alternatives. On the other hand, elected representatives must honestly fulfil their duties to prevent critical failures like paper leaks, ensuring that the future of lakhs of students is never compromised. Ministers come and go, but firm, robust and enduring policies are essential to guarantee smooth, secure, and successful competitive examinations.

So, whether it is cockroaches, leeches, grasshoppers, termites, beetles, flies, bedbugs or mosquitoes, the outcome should be positive and should not serve the electoral agenda of any political party.  I do not deny that electoral politics is the ultimate reality for any widespread change to occur or any public movement to succeed, but the history of independent India proves that any public movement ultimately give rise to just another political party with another symbol on the ballot paper. The recent example is of the Anna movement against corruption that produced a self-proclaimed anarchist political leader like Arvind Kejriwal.

Today, the NEET protest is no longer a peaceful students’ movement.  It is completely hijacked by anti-social and anti-national goons who are indulging in violence and destroying public and government properties in Delhi. This needs to be curbed with an iron hand. The demand seeking the resignation of the education minister should not be entertained by the government at this stage. Of course, there are certain goof-ups at every ministry like the 2026 UGC Equity Regulations lapse under the incumbent, that should have led to his resignation, followed by NEET paper leaks in 2024 and 2026 on moral grounds.  However valid and genuine the reasons are for the NEET protest, if the government surrenders today, then tomorrow’s demand will be the resignation of the Railway Minister, Finance Minister, External Affairs Minister, Petroleum Minister or even the Prime Minister and Home Minister by lying down comedians before PM’s residence instead of standup ones at the Jantar Mantar. Beware, if you give them an inch, they’ll ask for a mile.

Though the NEET paper leaks twice in two years have shaken the confidence of a few Gen Z students, the majority of them still have faith in the word of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop this chronic bane in our education system. He has been a go-getter from day one.  Anything that is in the interest of the nation and the welfare of the people comes first to him. His public record and actions speak volumes about his determination to elevate Bharat to spectacular heights.” And look at the alternative faces you have in India today. Do they instil confidence in you? Think deeply, dear Gen Z; you will find your answer.  Remember, when inept leaders lead, the wise weep and the nation bleeds.