India’s youth protesters are fighting Modi with irreverent humour and memes

India’s young protesters are mocking their government. And the jokes are landing.As thousands of demonstrators take to the streets in the Indian capital, they are waging a parallel campaign online, flooding social media with memes, parody videos and self-deprecating jokes.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4India’s education minister resigns after weeks of ‘Cockroach’ protestslist 2 of 4‘Televising our revolution’: India’s Gen Z flips Modi’s social media gamelist 3 of 4Can India’s youth-led protest movement bring lasting change?list 4 of 4Congress Party holds ‘funeral’ for India PM Modi and cabinet ministersend of listIn doing so, they are also beating Narendra Modi – the powerful but image-conscious prime minister – at his own game.A protester holds a placard during a demonstration in New Delhi, on July 23, 2026 [Verda Sabzwari/AP]Modi built his political brand through social media. Now protesters are using that same platform to mock his administration, ridicule pro-government television news coverage, transform confrontation with police into viral content and seize control of the online narrative.The campaign has taken the protests demanding accountability and education...