Last Thursday, as weeks of mass protests against the leak of a medical school entrance exam paper continued to rock India’s capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi uploaded his first-ever selfie video to Instagram.
“Friends,” he began in English, before switching to Hindi and pledging to take action against those responsible for the leak through “fast-track courts.” In another selfie video the following day, he thanked the “youngsters” who responded to his first video “late at night.”
Both videos were instantly lampooned by their intended audience. Instagram creators made fun of Modi’s long pauses and his chosen camera angle that made him look as if he was ringing a doorbell and posted satirical videos taking his characterizations of them as “friends” quite literally. There were also more pointed videos that stitched his attempt at camaraderie with images of police in New Delhi beating up protesters.
On Saturday, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, acceding to the protesters’ main demand and handing them a significant, if largely symbolic, win. The protests were officially called off by organizers, and the thousands of mostly young people who had flooded the streets of New Delhi cleared out.
