Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday after weeks of major protests in New Delhi and other cities across the country. The demonstrators, who are largely young people, had been demanding his resignation over an exam paper leak that allegedly drove dozens of students to suicide.

Pradhan announced his resignation on X, attaching a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the letter, written in Hindi, he described India’s youth as “the true strength of this country.” 

“I have always deeply respected the aspirations, dreams and expectations of the youth. They are not just the future of India, but also the carriers, builders and architects of a new and developed India,” he wrote.

Referring to the ongoing protests, he said he had decided to step down in order not to allow “anti-national forces” to “take advantage of the situation.”