Another series of protests brewing in the national capital recently has caught everyone’s attention with opinions, experiences and analysis pouring from all sides, in all shapes. In this article I intend to capture the nuances of this movement and leave it to the reader to frame an opinion about the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bharat indeed is a complex country. Having read about success stories of various countries, one will always find themselves comparing the same with our country, and it should be the case where we learn from the best, and the worst, and make informed decisions. However, in recent times, I feel everyone has lost track of how things have been progressing. Everyone is so engrossed in their own stories that they can’t put a step back and reflect before throwing opinions, even extreme and biased opinions for that matter, not realising the implications of not appreciating the nuances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spending time in solitude, doing some reading and analysis of my own, I have been able to appreciate reading between the lines and having a realistic opinion on these matters. Let’s first analyse the extreme sides that exist in the world today and then we can appreciate the other views in greater detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The left side consists of not just students and the well educated side of the civil society, but also several other bodies like the SFI, AISA, etc., spanning from the heart of the capital to the rest of the country, and subsequently the world, who are of the opinion that the state is at complete fault, there is nothing wrong AT ALL with the protests, and that democracy is dying \/ dead and fascism is on the rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This side has gone to extremes saying that indeed, government has done nothing and is incapable of doing anything, and the matters should necessarily be taken into the hands of the people, who have little to no idea of the chaos that actually exists in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alleging that, indeed, state has failed the people, and has become a puppet in the hands of few with no accountability towards their subjects, going as far as to criticise the security forces and calling them names, dismissing their statements (both official and unofficial), and instigating a total loss of trust in the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The right side consists of people who share a similar demographic, but are instead critical on several nuances of the protest and are highlighting the fact that the damage was on both sides, the state is not at fault and should indeed continue to rain fire and pain upon the protestors in the name of security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This side is of the opinion that, indeed, there are faults in the protest itself, and to some extent they acknowledge the real issue at hand, but are inclined towards believing that whatever the state is doing, is the right and necessary thing to do at this point of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are sharing clips of security personnel been assaulted, injured and transported to medical care, while encouraging that the protests should be further suppressed till the state responds through the appropriate channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that we have understood both sides, let’s look at some facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping these facts in mind, let’s further analyse the situation through a nuanced lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both the left and the right are correct in reacting the way they are doing. Both sides have put forward critical arguments in the favour of the national fabric and democratic processes and institutions, however, it is critical to address these questions before jumping to opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s figure out the answer to these questions through some intellectual probing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking a look at some recent history, in 2011, there were massive anti-corruption protests in the country, specifically the NCR, to introduce stricter measures and accountability of public institutions. This movement was led by Anna Hazare, and various people who later made a living in politics like Arvind Kejriwal, were born out of these protests. At the time, the UPA government was of the opinion that protests should never undermine the supremacy of the parliament, and the fact that it is not obligatory for the government to give in to the pressure of such protests, as the process of the country should be honoured and stunts like hunger strike can set a dangerous precedent for the future. This is the same political alliance which believes in instilling the values of democracy at the most granular level of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Skipping to the scenario today, where the protests have been going on for over a month, the leaders spanning from supporters of the AAP (Arvind Kejriwal’s political party) to various intellectuals. Their demand is also similar, accountability of public institutions in education to avoid issues in conducting of national level exams. Keeping in mind that these exams have a direct impact on the future of the youth of our country, it is indeed very critical for everyone to address the underlying issues at the earliest<\/strong>. However, we should consider the cost of such mass movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is indeed agreeable that woman empowerment is a key to the growth of any nation. Women have played a critical role in nation building since ancient times, all the way from politics to philosophy, and it is crucial to promote the sentiment at all costs. However, it is not justified for either the state, or the protestors for that matter, to target women in particular who are doing their part in this process. There were several allegations that the RAF (Rapid Action Force, which most of the people on social media mistook for the military for some reason) had removed their name tags, including several police officers who were present on site. One justification can be made that they did it for their own security, as in the digital age, it is very easy for anti-social elements to dig up information about a person, that too just by their face, if not the name. While it is crucial for such people to be responsible and accountable to the people, it is also valid for them to look out for themselves and their loved ones, which might potentially be targeted once the situation has subsided. The fact that people were critical and abusive of the statements made by female officers as senior as the Assistant Commandant (a rank obtained primarily via the UPSC CAPF examination), shows that the current crowd has no respect for their work nor the principles of true democracy. It is alleged that some civilians, or individuals dressed as civilians, were participating in these protests during lathi charge, spraying their attacks on the protestors mercilessly. On the other hand, it is also alleged that journalists and other persons were assaulted by the protestors, labelled as “Godi Media” or someone who has no value for democratic ideals. Looking at these two issues from a distance, one thing can agreed upon, that the public actors should be accountable and have some level of transparency, while the protestors should also be responsible and avoid violent tendencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were various non-student and political elements in the protests, inciting violence, promoting attack on the security forces and calling to turn this situation to something similar to what happened in Nepal (where the government was overthrown by Gen Z protestors in the name of democracy). Some of these actors include Haji Afzal, Atishi Marlena, Akhilesh Tripathi among the many, whose background dictates their trouble with the law and national security. Their intent to participate in such movements with so much at stake is questionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subsequently, the security forces were also criticised about the fact that they deployed tear gas, laathi charge and as far as aiming loaded weapons like AK-203 and MP5 Navy when some of the protestors reached close to the Sansad Bhavan. On the other hand, it is alleged that there was stone pelting from both the sides, with objects as big and heavy as bricks were hurled. One of the injured protestors claimed that he had verbally incited the RAF personnel to hit him, and the personnel obliged him with a thrashing too. I put forward the following two arguments for both the sides. For the security forces, let’s say that the certain individuals are mentally challenged and are inciting violence by asking you to thrash them, is it really sensible for you to assault a mentally challenged person? For the protestors, let’s say the forces were at fault and required you to retaliate by damaging public property and going as far as assaulting officers, what does this behaviour portray your movement to be? If everything is driven by the principals of cause and effect, then one scenario could’ve been where the protestors could’ve intellectually retreated seeing the police “brutality”. However, this didn’t happen. It was meant to go down violently from the start ever since irrelevant actors joined the movement. As far as the reaction of the security forces is concerned, it was uncalled for, and could’ve been handled in a much better way. However, it can only be justified when the crowd indeed got out of control, wrecked havoc, incited instability and threatened the sovereignty and security of the nation. The intention of the protests and some of the protestors were pure, but the same can’t be said for the entire group. I appreciate the genuine protestors who stood ground and spoke what’s right, but it’s not right to push the blame on the government entirely when the escalations are happening at an exponential rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is our right to hold leaders accountable, especially democratically elected leaders, but what about the leaders who emerged from such movements? It is alleged that the top leaders of the movement didn’t participate in the protests which escalated. On the other hand, these same leaders said that they can’t be held accountable and it is not their job or responsibility to do so. For context, the reason Cockroach Janata Party came into existence is because the Chief Justice of India, Mr. Surya Kant, had made a comment on the youth of the country and compared them with cockroaches who spend a lot of time on the social media and hardly have any productive work to do \/ contributions to make. While his remarks were meant to incite activism among youth to take matter into their own hands and manifest their rightful destiny, the movement transformed into a satire, diluting the meaning of both the remarks and the movement with the recent escalations. The behaviour of individuals who blindly followed leaders like Abhijeet Dipke, Vijet Dahiya and many others, without holding them accountable, just solidifies the arguments put forward by CJI. Another argument would be the comparison with this movement to the national freedom movement before 1947. A comparison is been made openly by top leadership like Sonam Wangchuk and others that this is the “Second Freedom Movement of India”. Keeping these things in mind, let’s imagine that Mr. M.K. Gandhi, who was a leader born out of a movement and not a democratic process, was not held accountable and didn’t have a sense of responsibility towards his followers, what would’ve been the outcome of the freedom struggle? It is a question that shall be pondered upon by the supporters of this movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As far intellectual discourse is concerned, there is a complete absence of one. Almost close to none of the so called supporters of this movement must’ve sat down and reflected upon these developments before posting content on social media to go with the trend. They have no idea about the actual demographic of the movement, neither do they appreciate the appropriate channels and processes to elevate their concerns. The thousands of protestors could’ve taken to court and ask them to direct the government bodies to take the necessary action through a PIL, or even through dialogue with the higher personnel. I am not saying the protestors are at fault entirely here either. It is the duty of the state to understand and appreciate the psycho-socioeconomic factors of the protestors and affected demography of this movement. The students from various backgrounds are affected by the NEET and CBSE scandals, and it is very important for the state to embed trust back into the public and ensure that their concerns are escalated through proper and peaceful channels. While efforts were made, where even on the day of the protests, the spokespersons from CJP were engaging in dialogue with the union minister J.P. Nadda. Shortly after the dialogue, the spokespersons went on to completely dismiss the efforts been made by the state to engage with them as well. While it is important for the government to address such grievances, I feel it is important for the citizens to be patient regarding the same as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some genuine recommendations moving forward, as per my knowledge and understanding of the constitutional and legal machinery of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion, I personally support meaningful reforms in the education sector which will elevate the status of various socio-economic groups and the country at large, however, I don’t support the idea of violent, aimless protests which achieve nothing but noise-making in the longer run, creating unnecessary chaos and distress among the citizens of the nation. Targeted reforms along participatory democracy is the call of the hour, not pointing fingers or going on hunger strikes expecting resignations. I feel bad about the fact that various citizens, especially students, are going through various forms of distress to seek justice and bring about positive change in the society. India has come a long way in many aspects and it still has a long way to go, and it can only happen through smart work. My intention with this article is to not polarise, pick sides or incite inflammatory opinions, but to resolve a critical matter concerning our nation through meaningful dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n P.S. This blog was written after going through the material available in the open internet domain, the same can be fact checked over time as new information comes to light. In case someone is interested in engaging in an intellectual discussion, please reach out to me via the comments<\/strong> and I will be more than happy to engage, along with the collected proof from my side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another series of protests brewing in the national capital recently has caught everyone’s attention with opinions, experiences and analysis pouring from all sides, in all shapes. In this article I intend to capture the nuances of this movement and leave it to the reader to frame an opinion about the same. Bharat indeed is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random","category-research","category-theory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":492,"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuvishere.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Recommendations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
The Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n