India's police accused of exercising 'absolute brutality' against peaceful protesters

Good to have you with us. Well, we're going to start in India. The Prime Minister there, Narendra Modi, says that fast-track courts will be set up to prosecute those behind the exam paper leaks. This is his first public response after days of youth protests demanding the resignation of the Education Minister. Modi's comments came hours after protesters clashed briefly with police on the streets of New Delhi late on Wednesday. We can take a listen now to what some of the protesters have been saying. We're able to be joined now from Delhi by correspondent Sarah Jacob in Delhi. Hi, Sarah. Good to have you with us. So, Narendra Modi, he has finally ended his silence and spoken out on this subject. He has, it seems, you know, been very late to understand the strength of these protests. Has he now finally swung into action, you know, worrying about these fast-track courts? Tell us what he is doing now, finally having broken his silence. Absolutely. It seems that finally efforts are well and truly underway to diffuse the situation. Firstly, like you said, after we've seen that this anger against the Modi government has been spreading and protests have now been seen in other cities outside of Delhi, the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finally has spoken out, finally has broken his silence and has promised that strict action will be taken against the corrupt officials who were behind the NEET exam paper leak scandal. The Prime Minister, speaking out for the first time on X, or formerly Twitter, has said that nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth. Those who try and harm the future of our youth will not be spared. And keeping in mind that this is a country that is known to be a country where we have a clogged up judicial system, where sometimes cases take decades to be heard in our courts, the Prime Minister has also said that a fast-track court will be set up to follow this investigation to its logical end. Meanwhile, the activist who had been on a hunger strike, demanding accountability in this case, who was forcefully picked up and removed from the protest site, Soman Wangchuk, has also opened up a window for dialogue. He has asked the students to call off this protest for now and enter into dialogue with the government. But he has a precondition that no action, no legal action should be taken. The government should give an assurance that no legal action will be taken against these students. There were these clashes last night just before Narendra Modi spoke out. You know, the police have come in for a lot of criticism over their handling of this. Have we heard any more about that? Absolutely. Absolutely. When Sonam Wangchuk has asked for an assurance from the government before he calls off his protest, saying that no legal action will be taken against the students, it is because already 10 FIRs have been filed by the police against unnamed persons involved in these protests. Now, the allegations of absolute brutality by the state machinery against unarmed, peacefully protesting students have now reached the courts. The Delhi High Court heard some public interest litigation petitions today. And these petitions say that these students have been subjected to brutality by the state machinery. There are several videos on social media of tear gas being used, plainclothes officers brutally hitting these protesters with sticks and batons. And these petitions say that this is not just a few bad apples in the police force. They say that this is a calculated move by a police force that reports directly to the Home Minister of the country, the second most powerful politician in India, second only to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.