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New Delhi: Under pressure from the ongoing youth protests on the streets of the national capital of Delhi, which has now spread to other parts of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a first, released a late-night video – nearly at midnight – on Thursday, July 23. In it, Modi said that “paper leaks are no trivial matter” and that his government had taken several steps to stop paper leaks in the last two months.

Modi’s video statement came after he broke his silence regarding the ongoing youth protests demanding Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, in his first statement earlier in the day, and said that fast track courts will be set up “to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks”. In his video message, Modi said that he has already got a draft of the bill which includes provisions for fast-track courts and stringent punishments, which will be discussed in the cabinet tomorrow and brought to parliament next week.

Neither of the two statements made in a single day, however, made any mention of the growing chorus for Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation coming both, from the streets as well as from the opposition. Despite the brute force unleashed by Delhi Police on protesters who responded to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s Sansad Chalo march on Monday, the crowds have only swelled at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Protests are also being held in other........

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