The protests that erupted in the country in response to the Citizenship Amendment Bill being passed by both houses of the parliament to earn a legislative legitimization in order to become a constitutional act (even though its constitutional validity is suspect) have been unprecedented, to say the least. Not because it is unjustified (it couldn’t be more justified in fact), but because India has not seen this kind of a political culture in the last few years. A democracy that found glory in calling itself so merely because it gave its people the right to vote finally woke up to active political involvement of its citizens. As thousands of students gathered at Jamia Square, along with the locals (largely the Muslim population of Jamia Nagar) on December 13th, for a long March to parliament street, the country blossomed with a new hope. But it wasn’t long before those hopes were crushed by the police crackdown on peaceful protesters. A day that begun as an attempt at rebuilding a democracy from its ruins ended with its minority being pushed further away from the fringes it had always occupied in the national political discourse with Muslims feeling more threatened and voiceless than ever.
However, what followed the brutal state sanctioned attack was a nation waking up to the muffled cries of sections of the society that had always been ignored. Voices emerged from each corner of the country as citizens, mostly comprising of the country’s youth population, began taking to the streets to protest against a bigoted law. This largely student- driven movement that has since gripped the country does not only attempt to restore the health of a crumbling democracy but has also facilitated the politicization process for a lot of people. Those who had earlier maintained a ‘neutral’ stance or worse, laid claim to their privilege of being ‘apolitical’ suddenly began to realise what was at stake. While the year 2019 was marked by protests across the globe for reasons pertaining to economics and governance, Indian citizens had been mute spectators to the horrors that unfolded in many forms since 2014- the economic slowdown (thanks to demonetization and GST), farmer suicides, lynchings, witch-hunting of academics and intellectuals, revocation of article 370, etc. The protest demonstrations across the country are not just the logical conclusion to the anti- citizen moves of the center but also a result of the active involvement of a large number of students spear-heading them.
The University space has always been one that is conducive to critical thinking and hence it fosters debates and discussions. Students do not just have a right to voice dissent but it is their historical duty to steer the socio-political discourses into specific directions that are crucial to a democracy. And while these students did not take to the streets in such large numbers in response to the failure of the Modi government on economic front, the opposition to CAA has united the country- despite the many attempts to fragment- because of the fact that it presents an existential threat. Many sections of the society who had never voiced an opinion before largely because they were rewarded with a livable life for their silence felt a need to assert themselves via the medium of these protests. The force in the collective voice of the nation continues to increase as more and more people begin to realize the importance of being opinionated, rather than being ‘apolitical’. The signs of a particularly horrifying history repeating itself are too difficult to ignore, and even more so - the live consequence of it playing out in Kashmir now.
Undeniably, students have had a huge role to play in ensuring the participation of maximum people in these protests. From researching on the topics to printing and distributing pamphlets; from chalking out protest plans to ensuring the execution; from leading protests to creating awareness, they have done it all, and the country owes it to them for this one. From students returning medals and degrees, to students getting beaten up, the country has suddenly found itself echoing with the voices and following the example of the young. While this positive development reinstates some hope in democracy, it is crucial that the road they further pave be a new one. Because once all of this is over, one hopes that the country sees the emergence of better leaders from among these youth. The last thing one would like to see is a turning back to the status quo. If this movement is touted to be the Indian revolution, here’s hoping that it usurps the old systems in order to open up doors for change. While the task is challenging, it is certainly not an impossible one. With the sheer determination, courage and resilience we have seen thus far, it is not entirely improbable that the country gathers its loose threads just in time to catch democracy from slipping away.
- Iqra Raza (St. Stephen's college, DU)
( Views expressed in the readers' article session are personal and not necessarily that of team 'Campus Perspectives' )
Comments