Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a late-night video address on Thursday amid an ongoing protest by the Kokroch Janata Party at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. He said a draft for a strict new law to prevent examination paper leaks had been submitted to him and would be discussed at Friday’s cabinet meeting. Modi said the draft includes provisions for fast-track courts and severe penalties, and that the government would seek to pass the bill in Parliament as soon as possible.

Modi said paper leaks cause severe mental distress for millions of students and their parents, and that arrests and other measures had been taken over the past two and a half months. He said examinations for about 2.2 million students were arranged and results released on July 19 to prevent the loss of an academic year. The CJP said Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must resign. Environmental and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike in solidarity with the protest on Friday.