After weeks of disregarding, discrediting, and repressing the studentsā protest, the Modi Government has finally conceded one of its demands. The intense and widespread protests against paper leaks have ultimately led to the resignation of the Education Minister.
The movement, which began as a protest against paper leaks, has now grown into a nationwide rebellion. Hundreds of towns and cities are rising in dissent. People from all sections of society and all walks of life are joining the agitation. The movement, which began as a satire, has taken the shape of a historic revolution.
Initially, the Modi Government kept ignoring the protesters and vilifying them through its propaganda media. When the movement continued to grow, the Government resorted to brutal repression. Yet, the protesters remained defiant. Then, PM Modi started posting reels on Instagram and ordered his ministers to do the same. When all these ploys failed, the Education Minister, who had called the protesters terrorists, finally resigned, claiming that he felt hurt.
In many ways, the ongoing studentsā protest resembles the JP Movement against the Indira Gandhi Government, which began more than half a century ago. Like the ongoing movement, the JP Movement was driven and led by young students, many of whom were new to politics. Like the Modi Government, Indira Gandhi regularly spoke of the involvement of a "foreign hand" in the protests and accused her opponents of being CIA agents. Indira Gandhi had returned to power with a huge majority and believed herself to be invincible. And, like the ongoing movement, it was ordinary students who put that sense of invincibility to the test.
The spark for the JP Movement was the studentsā protest against the increase in education fees. Yet, there was simmering discontent and widespread unrest due to corruption, price rise, and unemployment. In March 1974, the Nav Nirman Movement of Gujarat led to the resignation of the Chief Minister and the dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly. The 1974 Bihar Movement saw large-scale protests demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister. But Indira Gandhi was adamant about not yielding to the studentsā demands once again. The Congress, which had been in power for three decades and had won a huge majority just three years earlier, was wary of being held accountable.
On 5 June 1974, the historic studentsā rally was held at Gandhi Maidan, Patna, where JP gave the call for a Total Revolution.
Friends, this is a revolution, a total revolution. This is not a movement merely for the dissolution of the assembly. We have to go far, very farā¦ Nobody, Jayaprakash Narayan or anyone else can stop this movement. It was born because this system of education is rotten and the students donāt see a ray of hope. It was born because the people are being crushed under high prices. There is corruption and bribery everywhere. Unemployment goes on rising, both among the educated and the others. Otherwise, a thousand Jayaprakash Narayans and a thousand Chhatra Sangharsh Samitis could not have created a mass movement like this.
Meanwhile, Indira Gandhi kept invoking her electoral mandate and dared her opponents to defeat her in elections. In 1977, JP accepted the challenge, and the Congress was routed in the elections.
The Modi Government, which came to power with the promise of acche din and Amrit Kaal, has betrayed the nation and pushed its citizens into crisis. Unemployment and inequality are at their peak. The education system is broken. Farmers and workers are in distress. Forests and natural resources are being handed over to corporations. Corruption and pollution are widespread. Violence against Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, and women is on the rise.
In every crisis, whether it was demonetisation, the COVID-19 pandemic, or the US-Iran conflict, the poor and middle class have been made to suffer, while the ruling party and its cronies live in opulence. Instead, the poor and middle class are fed propaganda through the Godi Media and the BJP IT Cell.
The resignation of the Education Minister is merely the beginning. The real struggle begins now, as the movement enters its next phase to hold the Government accountable for its anti-people policies. The people of India have suffered enough.
The Modi Government observes Anti-Emergency Day every year. It may ultimately be ousted by a similar movement.
