New Delh The Congress on Friday (July 31, 2026) took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "forgive children" video message and said that while the country was asking the PM to apologise, he had instead "forgiven the country".

Mr. Modi on Friday (July 31, 2026) said he and even his late mother were subjected to abusive language at Jantar Mantar during the protests over NEET irregularities, but asserted that dragging such "misguided children" into court would not resolve the problem and hence, he wanted to forgive them.

Tagging the PM's video and post, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said in a post on X in Hindi, "Listen to this. The country is asking him to apologise, yet he has forgiven the country." In another late-night video message released on Instagram, the Prime Minister said he could understand the anguish prevailing in society, but stressed that this was the time to embrace the youth and guide them on the right path.

"Not only was I subjected to abusive language at Jantar Mantar, but even my late mother was abused there. But abuses never solve anything; let's guide the misguided," he said.

Mr. Modi described the students as "misguided children" and said punishing them or making them go through court proceedings will not solve the problem.

"I want to forgive them. People make mistakes, but this is a cultural shock that our daughters are using such abusive language. We must forgive our youth who were misguided; after all, they are our children. It's our duty to show them the right path," he said.