Pakistan, July 26 -- Indian education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation gave Narendra Modi's government a man-sized answer to a much larger failure. He left office after the Cockroach Janta Party's protests made the paper-leak crisis impossible to contain with police barricades and internet curbs.

India's biggest street protests of recent years had shaped up to become a political flashpoint, posing one of the biggest challenges to New Delhi. The government has since promised reforms, compensation for affected families and withdrawal of cases against protesters. It also secured a suspension of the agitation.

That is a political settlement. It is far from an institutional one.

The force of the protests lay in their understanding ...