A quote from Milan Kundera goes thus: The final stage of a cultural movement is satire. When the people laugh at the powerful, the regime is already dead.
The resignation of Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan 25 July in the wake of an unprecedented satire-filled movement launched by students and youths in the heart of New Delhi at Jantar Mantar, under the aegis of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), marks a watershed moment in contemporary Indian politics. The name for this party was inadvertently coined by the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant. In the usual fashion that old Indian foggies always pass disparaging remarks, Surya Kant went ballistic in his Court, on record one day in early June, saying the youth of this country are like cockroaches and pests and the lawyers who bring up cases related to the youth are wasting the Court’s time.
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No one could think at the wildest stretch of imagination that the mighty government of Narendra Modi would cave in so soon, given its track record of bulldozing its critics through coercion, intimidation and propaganda machinery. It is a triumph of the Indian Gen Z who brought a government to its knees through entirely democrat ic means, unlike their counterparts in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka who had in recent past resorted to violence to effect regime change. Here in India, the violence was by the Government’s Police. The Indian youth did not need to embark on any project of toppling the government, but they focused on ending entrenched corruption in education and recruitment scams that threatened to jeopardise their future. The fallout has been much wider, of course. As a first in recent times, the young of India have forced the government to be accountable and take responsibility for its failure to deliver when accountability virtually was erased from the lexicon of governance. The takeaway from the resignation tendered by Dharmendra Pradhan was not merely the forcible exit of one single minister, but that action by the youth brought down the citadel of overbearing power and sole authority that the present government had become this government.
When all the Opposition parties fared miserably in cornering the government at the Centre for its misrule and failure in most fronts, a pall of gloom descended on the country that the government could not be made accountable. Every time there was a protest, the government used the tactic of communal divide and the bogey of foreign powers trying to interfere with the internal affairs of the country to crush criticism. But this time it was all so different. The issues raised concerned the whole country, cutting across religious beliefs and social groupings. The CJP and millions of students and youths flocking to it did not dabble with petty politics, but raised the broader question of the future of the young generation that finds itself betrayed by a corrupt government and a failing education system. They did not fall into the trap of fighting for ideological issues such as the RSS’ narrow, bigoted cultural-educational agenda that has been a blunt weapon of Opposition political parties. Instead, they called into question the government’s colossal neglect of the exam systems, be it the sanctity of NEET exams vitiated by question paper leaks or the CBSE marking process that destroyed the careers of millions of students. For this reason, the agitation was backed by parents too, and a big chunk of the educated population was shaken by the prospect of their children’s careers being destroyed through colossal corruption by this government.
The education minister was chosen as the villain of the piece because he became a symbol of criminal government neglect and total unconcern for the future of the students. In fact, Dharmendra Pradhan had over the years proved to be a trusted hand for the BJP top leadership for his capabilities and doing the RSS’ bidding in fashioning the education system on its model of injecting religious bias and curbing free spirit and independent, liberal thinking. Destroying the Western education system was probably the prime task given to Pradhan by the Sangh. From available indications, the RSS seems to want an education system where children learn Hindi and Hindu scriptures rather than modern science, mathematics and subjects that would make them excel at a global stage. In short, ensure a return to the Gurukul era. That is why, most probably, he was made education minister even after the 2024 election.
The removal of Pradhan in this sense is not a matter of targeting an individual. He represented a system evolved by the ruling party and its cultural-ideological mentors at Nagpur to indoctrinate the youth, caring little for their future and fulfilment of their dreams of receiving higher education, professional training and jobs. The government seems to have panicked at the prospect of a rebellion spreading across the country after observing massive youth turnout in Bihar, Maharashtra and many other states after the national capital. It first tried to use its too familiar tactic of unleashing state force to silence and intimidate its critics and brand the agitating students as anti-nationals aided and abetted first by China, followed by America and last by Pakistan. The spectacle of young women and men being beaten brutally and even molested filled the country with fury and revulsion, leading to a mass mobilisation of young people cutting across religious faiths, social and caste differences. The sheer youthfulness, creativity, and mocking power forced many to come out of their cocoons, shaking off fear of reprisals from an authoritarian government. Almost like a magic wand, the movement has lifted, at least for now, the pall of fear that has been sweeping the country for over a decade.
The farmers’ agitation in the recent past had made the government beat a retreat and withdraw legislation after a prolonged period. This, however, is the first time that the government buckled and was forced to acknowledge the need for taking responsibility and being accountable. This is the main success of the students’ agitation. The government has so long been getting away with disowning its responsibility to deliver and govern by raising issues such as communal conflict, demonising minority groups and disenfranchising many considered unfriendly through the dubious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This stratagem is being used time and again to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi seem invincible and project a larger-than-life image of him. This single protest has punctured that balloon.
The resignation of the education minister is engendering a new belief and confidence that any minister at the Centre may meet the same fate and will be held accountable for their acts of omission and commission. As the CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said after the resignation of Pradhan, if the nation can summon courage and stay together, a government can be made accountable. This was a brave beginning made in the correct direction. The ruling party will likely devise ways to weather the storm in the eye of which it finds itself now. Things will no longer be as easy as they were till the Cockroach movement assumed the aspect of a mighty opposition without any political label. It is good that the Opposition parties backed the movement, putting aside their political identities, but they too seem to have been marginalised in this current photo frame.
