New Delhi, August 1, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Several Opposition leaders on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message in which he said he forgave students who had abused him during protests over alleged paper leaks, and demanded that the government apologise to young protesters over alleged police action and concerns surrounding examination irregularities.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said he condemned the use of abusive language, including by political leaders, but questioned the political discourse surrounding such incidents.
“BJP leaders have often abused Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and other Congress leaders, but we never saw the Prime Minister getting affected by those,” Dikshit told IANS.
He alleged that political parties across the spectrum had contributed to the decline in public discourse.
Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai criticised the Prime Minister, saying that while Parliament’s Monsoon Session was underway, Modi was not attending proceedings but was sharing messages on social media.
“This shows the sheer amount of panic. He can come to Parliament and apologise to the students and to those young girls for whom he had said ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’,” Rai said.
Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said the Prime Minister’s statement would have limited significance unless Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed allegations of police excesses during student protests.
SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand questioned why students were forced to take to the streets and demanded an apology from the government to families of students who died by suicide following examination-related controversies.
“Though PM Modi has forgiven those students who abused him and even they have apologised, but the question remains that why at all did the youth have to come out on the streets?” Chand said.
CPI(M) leader Hannan Mollah also criticised the timing of the Prime Minister’s message, alleging that students had been protesting for a long time without receiving a response from the government.
The criticism followed Prime Minister Modi’s video message shared on his official Instagram account on Friday, in which he said he wanted to forgive students who had made offensive remarks against him and his late mother during the protests.
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