Youth-led protests are spreading across India. “Cockroaches” have emerged far too strong to be crushed under hobnailed boots. What began as a satirical cockroach hashtag campaign, following a judge’s disparaging remark about the Indian youth, has meteorically morphed into a yout…
Youth-led protests are spreading across India. “Cockroaches” have emerged far too strong to be crushed under hobnailed boots. What began as a satirical cockroach hashtag campaign, following a judge’s disparaging remark about the Indian youth, has meteorically morphed into a youth-led mass protest movement. Young Indians, led by the online political initiative, Cockroach Janatha Party, have taken to the streets in defiance of the mighty BJP-led government. The triggers behind the current protest campaign in India were the cancellation of NEET-UG, a nationwide entrance examination for admission to undergraduate medical and certain allied health science courses, following an alleged paper leak, and activist Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike. Fasts have a strong, historical resonance in India, as evident from the tectonic shifts in Indian politics, caused by the hunger strikes of famous freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi and Potti Sriramulu and anti-corruption campaigners like Anna Hazare. But the surge of youth anger in India cannot be reduced to those factors alone. Reflected in the aggressive protests in India are public concerns over governance issues. However, the ongoing protests are not without a ‘me-too’ dimension, coming in the wake of mass uprisings in South Asia that forced a President out of office in Sri Lanka and brought down governments in Bangladesh and Nepal. The Congress Party, desperately looking for something to hold on to in a bid to make a comeback, is accused of trying to hijack the ongoing youth protests. It is not likely to succeed in its endeavour. The Indian youth cannot be unaware of how opportunistic political forces manipulated a genuine youth-led protest campaign in Sri Lanka to capture power. The powerful Modi government has had to bite the bullet to negotiate with the Cockroach Party protesters, who are openly clashing with the police. Perhaps, having seen how counterproductive the use of brutal force to crush protests was in Bangladesh, the Modi government has chosen to act with restraint and is trying to throw some bureaucrats to the wolves. It has also vowed to build a secure future for the Indian youth. But it remains to be seen whether the BJP-led government will be able to deflect the blame and assuage public anger. Mass uprisings aimed at engineering regime changes in democratic countries warrant a fresh look at the changing dynamics of the fundamental relationship between the citizenry and the state. In most parts of the world, people no longer live in a chaotic state of nature, which is believed to have led their ancestors to accept restrictions on their freedom in return for benefits such as social order, security and justice, as Locke, Hobbs, Rousseau and others have argued. These factors may still define people’s relationship with the state, but in some countries the line between the state and the government has blurred, with their rulers overstepping their limits, like King Louis XIV of France, who said, “I am the state”. In this day and age, people are conscious of their rights more than ever, and their needs and aspirations have undergone radical changes during the past several decades. It looks as if a need had arisen for a new social contract, as it were, in a highly interconnected, well-informed world. The expansion of social media and the rise of web-based activism with unlimited potential have created a situation where people seek to influence, or even make direct interventions in the affairs of the state, a trend that suggests what could be considered a tendency of the modern society to move towards more openness and direct democracy through citizens’ initiatives, etc. India is doing well on the economic front. According to World Bank data, India remains one of the fastest-growing, large economies. If Sri Lanka’s economy had been so vibrant, perhaps there would not have been a popular uprising in 2022. When mass protest campaigns, such as the Arab Spring, Aragalaya, and youth-led uprisings in Bangladesh and Nepal, are examined, it becomes evident that protesters were driven not only by prevailing politico-economic issues but also by a quest for value-based governance or the practice of governing according to ethical principles and shared social values, ensuring that public decisions promote justice, trust and the common good. Governments, especially in this part of the world, have to come to terms with this new reality and adapt to the changing role of the informed and active citizenry if they are to retain public confidence and remain relevant.
