Before writing as I must about significant happenings in India, I may be allowed to express sadness and concern at the large-scale fires in Spain and France and the earthquake in southern Japan.
If the understanding is preserved, India may see the return of democracy in practice. If the alliance dissipates, we will nonetheless remember an inspiring moment in India’s political history. Memory of that moment, and knowledge about it, will help in the future.
The association I speak of is between India’s Gen Z, galvanized by the satirical outfit, the Cockroach Janta Party, and the political opposition to Modi, of which Rahul Gandhi of the Congress Party is the most tenacious face, and where Uttar Pradesh’s Akhilesh Yadav (who leads the Samajwadi Party) and West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee (who leads the Trinamool Congress) are also crucial figures.
The inspiring moment was the Modi regime’s eventual submission to the CJP’s demand that his education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, must resign in the light of student suicides linked indisputably to a failed education and examination system. The millions who on the morning of July 25 were looking, via phones or other devices, at young Abhijeet Dipke, the CJP founder, as on the Jantar Mantar platform he received and announced the word that Pradhan had resigned, will not easily forget what they saw.
The huge crowd that exploded in joy included some who shouted that Dipke was a hero. Flatly rejecting the appellation, Dipke directed attention to a large poster he was unfurling. Displayed on that poster were the faces of every student who’d committed suicide, the deceased youngsters who were the struggle’s reason and its symbols. Dipke named each one.
Had to Resign
A few hours later, two young men, the CJP’s Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, announced that their demands having been met, demonstrations were being called off. They were seen sitting next to two of the regime’s ministers, J.P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh, in a neutral venue, the Constitution Club. Nadda and Singh belong to a government which, with brutal methods, had tried five days earlier to suppress the Gen Z protest. Neither disputed the claim of Das and Ranka that part of the CJP’s agreement with the government was that the latter would drop charges that had been filed against student protesters.
For days, Narendra Modi had paid not the slightest attention to the demand for Pradhan’s resignation. There was no question, Modi defenders said, of any of his ministers resigning under pressure. Still, Pradhan had to resign. As Civil Society, a New Delhi outlet, put it, a tsunami unleashed by millions of India’s young women and men compelled Modi to let go of Pradhan.
The education minister’s ouster notwithstanding, Modi’s powers remain massive. India has nonetheless seen that Modi’s defenses cannot withstand what Gen Z backed by a united political opposition can throw at him.
Especially when Gen Z has young leaders like Dipke, Neha Bora, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, to name a few among the many we’ve been looking at on a torrent of YouTube videos. This remarkable bunch has displayed stamina as well as wisdom.
Through its tens of thousands of protesters, Gen Z as a whole showed at Jantar Mantar, and in supporting demos elsewhere in India, that physically hurtful attacks by lathi, tear gas or pellet gun could not stop them. Not to be outdone, the regime’s police in Delhi mounted the latest surveillance cameras (where were they imported from?) and scanned the faces of, it would seem, all the protesters. Evidently every individual who protested in Delhi is now preserved, in undeniable detail, in the regime’s files.
On July 27, the headline on ndtv.com, the pro-government online portal with an immense reach, was “Face Scan Done, Cops Now Zero In On Delhi Protesters With ‘Criminal Records.’” The “sources” for this “report” were not named and there was no avenue for questioning or challenging the report, or for demanding details, but every recent or future protester, i.e. every citizen, has been warned that to walk on the streets of India’s capital is to invite the scanning of your face.
Aiming AK-47 at Students
Pradhan’s resignation was followed by riots in the eastern state of Bihar and other parts of India. Apparently 400 to 700 students were placed in prison in Bihar. Capturing the greatest attention was the video of a policeman in the town of Siwan who seemed to be firing at protesters with, believe it or not, an AK-47. In Bihar and elsewhere, people have spoken up in horror.
The Indian regime’s powers should not be underestimated. And its moves should be fully and continuously scrutinized. We may mark that the latest declarations from Modi and some of his ministers of “limitless empathy” for students have been accompanied by stern warnings to students from university and college authorities.
Thus on July 23, Delhi University issued an official “advisory for your safety,” which asked students (and faculty) to refrain from taking part in unauthorized assemblies and demonstrations at Jantar Mantar. In a post on X, DU stated that Jantar Mantar protests “are strictly regulated under the directives of the Supreme Court of India” and that those participating in unlawful assemblies could face direct legal action by law enforcement bodies. DU also warned that these legal actions could lead to “academic consequences for students and impact professional opportunities.”
Other universities in the capital, including Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University, and the famed Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in different parts of India issued advisories urging students to stay away from activities linked to the ongoing protests, Indian Express reported.
"Are You Sending Them Food?"
The fact that night-and-day protesters were receiving food from supporters in the capital had displeased the government. On July 25, Indian Express carried a story about warnings to restaurants and cafes against sending food free or in bulk to the protest site. According to the story, “Using discarded wrappers and packaging from the Jantar Mantar protest site, Delhi Police is allegedly tracking down restaurants and cafes and asking them to stop supplying free food or making bulk deliveries to the venue.”
Owners of several cafes and restaurants told Indian Express of visits by police officers who went through records of orders placed and deliveries made during preceding days. Some eateries were asked to furnish proof of paid orders, including bulk deliveries, and information about food they had sent for free. In some cases owners or managers were summoned to police stations.
Defeat for Modi
Modi has had to accept defeat in public. Suddenly, there is frankness in the Indian air. It seems that fear has been dispelled. It can of course quickly come back. If, however, Gen Z and the political opposition maintain their understanding, democratic opportunities might return to India after what so far has been a 12-year spell of deprivation.
Shortly before Modi yielded and Pradhan resigned, unease had entered some minds in democracy’s camp. After midnight on July 23-24, reports and pictures appeared suggesting that after 26 days of not eating, Ladakh’s distinguished educator, Sonam Wangchuk, had ended his hunger strike in support of the students by sipping soup offered to him in a hospital room by two of Modi’s ministers.
Fortunately, this video shared subsequently by Wangchuk has revealed why he broke his fast the way he did. Every Indian will be shamed by this record of the indignities to which a learned, courageous and creative individual — a precious national asset — was subjected by the regime’s police after being forcibly and shabbily removed from Jantar Mantar on July 18. The video also shows that, thanks to Wangchuk’s insistence, a few Ladakhi colleagues visiting Delhi could be at his side when, after obtaining categorical assurances from the ministers, he broke his fast.
"We're Not Afraid!"
A YouTube video made by Ravish Kumar’s team at Jantar Mantar on Sunday, July 26, i.e., the day after Pradhan’s resignation, shows a large Gen Z crowd continuing its joyous celebration. “We’re not afraid!” is writ on their faces. Among other images, Kumar’s YouTube shows Rahul Gandhi and a group of students speaking to the media after a conversation among them that Neha Bora, who participated, described as “fruitful.”
A heartening slogan heard throughout the days and nights of the protest was “Hindu-Muslim ki rajneeti, naheen chalegi naheen chalegi,” i.e., “Hindu-Muslim politics will not work, will not work!” Dipke or someone else would say, “Hindu-Muslim politics” and the crowd would respond by saying, “Will not work! Will not work!”
This was a direct riposte to the drive of the last 12 years to paint Muslims as anti-national. Substance was lent to the slogan by the unmistakable presence, in a Gen Z crowd that was predominantly Hindu, of Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
Sharad Pawar, 85, is one of India’s seniormost politicians. His Nationalist Congress Party has considerable popular backing in Pawar’s home state, Maharashtra. Modi has for long tried to have him on his side, and Pawar has never said never. On July 25, BBC reported:
“Veteran politician Sharad Pawar called Pradhan’s resignation a ‘major victory for the united power of the nation’s youth.’ ‘This struggle — in which the youth stood firm against injustice without fear of suppression and compelled the government to accept moral responsibility — stands as a testament to the strength of democracy,’ he wrote on X.”
Unlikely to Work
Apart from handing over the education ministry, after Pradhan’s departure, to his party’s Pralhad Joshi, an MP from Karnataka, Modi has introduced a law prescribing tougher punishments to those leaking and selling examination questions. He has also set up a commission for reforming the examination system. A similar commission was put together in 2024 after an outcry then about paper leaks. Few can say today what that commission achieved.
Congress MPs have reminded parliament — and, through videos of proceedings, India and its Gen Z — that Pralhad Joshi, the new education minister, had defended in 2022 the early release of 11 men serving life sentences for gang rape in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case.
Opposition leaders have also highlighted the rousing cheers offered by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs to Dharmendra Pradhan when he showed up in parliament after resigning. A colorful scarf was turned into a crown and placed on Pradhan’s head to welcome and, it seems, honor him. Watched by millions, the image won’t help the BJP regain Gen Z’s respect.
