By Nilotpal Basu
The outcome of the battle has been stunning. In a way, the energy, resilience and fortitude were unprecedented. Since the BJP-RSS led Modi Government has assumed office, arrogance and insularity has perfected an imperial style of governance which abhors accountability. In fact, the hollowing out of this basic principle of a democratic arrangement has led to this confrontation. The government’s approach was raised to such an absurd length that the Prime Minister has not addressed a single media conference in the last twelve years. Of late, this has started provoking sharp criticism from foreign journalists. The Government, the Prime Minister and his close group of associates and strategists remained firm to continue with this vainglorious attitude to flesh up an image of ruthless invincibility. Perhaps this was to translate the slogan of ‘Country needs a strong government and a strong leader’ in 2014. But all that has gone in vain.
June and July have authored a new chapter in the annals of mass struggles. On more than 150 occasions, centralised examinations have resulted in paper leakages. Therefore, the government went out of the way to deny the leakage, despite the whistleblowers’ forewarnings. But the teenagers were vigilant. Their ethical hacking prised open the NTA system and provided clinching proof for the rigging and manipulation with the tender to facilitate blacklisted vendors. Pradhan and his NTA were caught with their pants down. This acted as the signal for the struggle and Jantar Mantar.
Undoubtedly, the initiation of the indefinite fast by Sonam Wangchuk gave a great fillip to the united student movement. The convergence of both the continuous effort of the organised student movement, particularly of the Left, and the spontaneous outpouring of pent-up emotions and frustrations set off an avalanche which overtook the entire young generation. The parents and other democratic sections also vociferously extended their support. The protest became particularly loud with the obnoxious bouncer style hijacking of Wangchuk on the July 18, and his transfer to a government hospital, despite the objection of his family. It was clear that the government and the security forces wanted to use the excuse of taking care of his health to convert his hospital bed into a virtual imprisonment.
But clearly, the government’s ploy backfired. Instead of scaring the student protesters, the Jantar Mantar crowd swelled and acted as a real trigger to spread a strong wave of protest across the country. This culminated in the unprecedented mobilisation of protesters on July 20, in the March to Parliament action.
The students’ action has been so humongous because of the brazen bungling of the education ministry and the government. This is now coming out in the open even in the reports of sections of the mainstream media. For example, it so happens that the NTA conducted more than 270 examinations with just 24permanent staff, relying on 197 contractual and outsourced personnel. It is also clear that most of the basic security measures like functional CCTV surveillance remain largely absent, underlining the virtual lack of implementation of most of the key reforms suggested by the Radhakrishnan Committee, to fix the NTA in the wake of the 2024 NEET-UG crisis.
However, a key demand of the students – the disbanding of the NTA itself – has not been accepted yet. In a country of India’s size and diversity, the very notion of such a centralised examination mechanism is clearly untenable. Despite objections by some State Governments this continues, underlining the onslaught on federalism. It needs no saying that this flows from the overall framework of commercialisation and centralisation that NEP 2020 aims at. The forced resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan has definitely opened up the space for further debate on, and revisiting of, the NEP itself.
But it is not just the Education Department. The abysmal situation of employment and closure of virtually all opportunities for young people have reached a point where such an upsurge was just waiting to happen. The upsurge has also been the result of growing disquiet among other vital sections like peasants, workers and women. All these sections are also on the warpath on vital demands.
The government has been pushed totally on the back foot and forced to accept the demand of Pradhan’s resignation because of the overwhelming reaction to the unprecedented repression let loose on the protesters since July 20. The use of nailed batons, pellet guns and the deployment of unlabelled security forces, added to the dreadful scenario. Incisive analysis by independent media and fact-check sites have shown how mainstream media like ANI and other major channels – with Republic leading the pack – have tried to demonise the students’ protest.
The significance of the students’ upsurge comes out in such sharp clarity because of its central feature of fearlessness. The government’s ruthless attempt to act as unbending and inflexible and the bombast that no resignations take place under Modi had to come to its knees. In fact, the nocturnal appeal of the Prime Minister and his sham anxiety for the young people appeared almost comic.
There is a need to also assimilate the full import of the generational dimension. The young people used sarcasm, spoof, prank, meme, cartoons and such other forms to render the government’s stern responses comical. This was a different generation not venerable to the rendering of fake messages over WhatsApp, but widely using Instagram to hit back at, respond and ridicule the government’s theories and claims. With the recent study by the Ashoka University that the generation which spans between 15 and 29 years of age will constitute39 per cent of the population in 2029, what happened in July is actually a stern warning for the government itself.
Following the negotiation and the acceptance of the demands, not just the Union Government but some of the major BJP led state governments were also forced to backtrack on their actions. Though short of what the government conceded, the Supreme Court’s reiteration that right to peaceful protest is indeed a constitutional right and indiscriminate violence by the authorities to quell them is not permitted by law and the Constitution, has also strengthened the ground for legitimate opposition.
The opposition parties in the Parliament have also played an important role in exposing the authoritarian and fascist like responses to the students’ just demands. It also consolidated the process of this struggle. This was natural. In fact, the slogan of ‘opposition mukt bharat’ and the brazen transaction of elected opposition legislators like cattle, has reinforced the legitimacy of the streets. Therefore, let us brace for the future with mightier struggles and broader and deeper unity of forces opposed to the neo-fascist governance of RSS-BJP, backed by the corporates who are the only beneficiaries of the present regime. (IPA Service)
