Presuming July 2026 Protest achieved all its goals will be self-defeating
One is enjoying and in high spirits with the pleasantness spread by the students and youth protests at Jantar Mantar and other parts of India, but to presume that they have achieved all their goals will be self-defeating.
The formation of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and the protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar is too well known by now. The torture of youth, lathi charge by uniformed police and doubtful elements, use of pellet guns and even AK-47 was totally against the norms of democratic values.
The other side of the protest was youth singing and dancing, making posters collectively, and laughing and singing reminded one of Karl Marx’s famous adage, ‘Revolution is the Festival of Masses’, though the degree and context of Jantar Mantar protest and many other protests all over the country were totally different.
The autocratic government, which is totally unresponsive to the valid cry of the people, buckled after a long time, as the pattern of protest was picking up city after city. The inhibitions imposed by the dictatorial stance of the government was melting into thin year.
Earlier, we have seen the same government was impervious to the farmers' protests lasting as long as over 12 months and withdrawn only when elections were to be held. The government has encouraged troublesome elements to disrupt the Shaheen Bagh movement. The prolonged voices against exam leaks were totally ignored.
This time, the matters were different. The government tried to look the other way, but could not, and had to accept the demands, the major of which was the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He is replaced by Prahlad Joshi who again belongs to the RSS background. His persona can be judged from his approval of the release of rapists of Bilkis Bano.
A high powered task force has been formed to look into the leak of papers, and the task force, interestingly includes the likes of those who specialise in cow urine as per Priyanka Gandhi, and some others who don’t know the alpha and beta of the education system.
While currently the student leaders are struggling to ensure that the government fulfils its written assurances, we also need to understand that the ‘success’ of this student uprising. It is nowhere close to the student uprising in France in 1968, or the happenings of our neighbouring countries, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or Nepal. Though it has contributed a lot in changing the perceptions created by the IT media cell of the BJP, the "Godi Media" and overall, the word-of-mouth propaganda of the RSS through its Shakhas, and hundreds of schools and other subordinate organizations. The sense of fearlessness in speaking against the government is likely to come back gradually.
While Cockroach Janata Party and its leader Abhijit Dipke has acted as the precipitating factor of the protest, the ground for it had been in the making over the last many years. Rising unemployment, rising cost of living and destitution had been the base on which all this stood. While falling indices of freedom of expression, freedom of religion, hunger index, happiness index are dismissed by the ruling dispensation, they do reflect the worsening social situation in the real sense.
While the mainstream media has reversed its role to be the eulogiser of rulers and critics of opposition, the collapse of this 4th pillar of democracy was reflected when the people hooted at the journalists from the godi media. Though it should not have taken place, it does reflect the image of Godi media to the people as it has deserted its role to become the handmaiden of the rulers. The spirit of youth was very much on display and very heartening as it tried to lift some embargo on the democratic freedoms.
Has the protest achieved its goals in total?
Depends on what we see the totality as. The change of Education Minister, though very significant in smashing the ego of the ‘non-biological’, will not change the matters much, as Tweedledum has been replaced by Tweedledee. The core cause of paper leaks, corruption in the society has not been ended in any way.
The corruption can be curtailed only by making the system more transparent and accessible to society’s audit. On the issue of corruption though the RSS did plan Anna movement, leading to formation of AAP party to undermine the Congress, the NDA never made any move towards eradicating corruption. Neither was it an issue of concern for the ruling government. The heavy investment in roads and bridges was soon washed away as these structures built by the BJP were probably riddled with heavy corruption.
One has to concede that a large amount of ground for success, whatever extent, was also prepared by Rahul Gandhi’s multiple meetings exposing the government's callous attitude towards social issues. One is not sure if the communal polarization created by the RSS-BJP combine has become weaker due to the impact of the July 2020 Jantar Mantar Dharna. What problems have come into the system need to be realized in a broader sense.
Can in a long term this movement remain away from the electoral politics and pick up the core issue of communal forces, derailing the national agenda of peace and progress? The ‘idea of India’ as visualized by the freedom movement and embodied in our Constitution has been cleverly by-passed to force the country towards Hindu Rashtra. The issues of building the nation have been substituted by demolishing mosques and universities. The state has gradually been infiltrated by those who have taken the divisive training of RSS Shakhas, or are fed on the Godi media and the social media, popularly called WhatsApp University.
The Jantar Mantar dharna came as a breath of fresh air, what is still needed is that its march continues to bring us back as Indian citizens rather than Hindus or Muslims. The country belongs to the people, to all the people, while communal politics asserts the Hindu Rashtra based on Manu Smriti. The total agenda is to impose Brahminical values with relegation of Muslims, Christians, Adivasis, Dalits, Workers and women to second grade citizens.
One is enjoying and in high spirits with the pleasantness spread by this dharna. To presume that it has totally achieved its goals will be self-defeating. Till we can contain, if not totally defeat the communal forces, we will be inflicted one after the other injustice from the present ruling dispensation. We hail and salute the youth/students and hope the bigger challenges of indirect attacks on our constitution will be taken up in due course.
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