Roger Waters once wrote: Tide is turning; Satellite buzzing through the endless night; Exclusive to moonshots and world title fights; Imagine what it must be earning; Who is the strongest; Who is the best; Who holds the aces……….. Inevitably, the tide has to turn because it is not possible for the Earth to hold the weight of any one thing beyond the Universe’s allocated time.
In today’s India, it truly has become a big question as to who really holds the aces. Or, maybe, the aces have simply got tired and jumped out of the pack and are nowhere to be seen. That is what it seemed like while watching the Jantar Mantar protest by young students assisted by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). The indignation expressed visibly by the hundreds of thousands of youngsters and the brutal police attack on them clearly underlined the beginning of the end of a governance system that desired to prolong its grip on the handles of power way beyond its time. People may be doubtful whether a change is imminent. It can be said that the people of India are always the best judges.
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Citizens intrinsically ‘know’ and understand where the shoe pinches. They have never approved administrative coercion. Because of this strong character trait in the citizens of this land since long, invaders too have fallen by the road side when accosted by such extreme responses. MK Gandhi understood this attitude and used it successfully to make the Non-Cooperation movement a success, which had stumped the then British government. Nelson Mandela used this same tactic to overthrow a cruel, oppressive and brutal apartheid government in South Africa, decades after Gandhi had departed from this world. People are heard questioning the efficacy of sitting on dharna or staging a fast-unto-death in today’s scenario where the Government is considered in sensitive. Such protests have unpredictable outcomes.
In the recent instance of Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike, there definitely was the possibility of death looming large over the man. Those mocking him need to try going without food for 72 hours. The fast unnerved the Government to the extent that it was forced to act and pick up Wangchuk and get him medical attention. Student movements have often served as the conscience of a nation. They emerge not out of convenience but out of accumulated frustration, when institutions fail to respond to legitimate concerns. The recent student protests reflect a growing sense of anger over an education system that many young people believe has repeatedly failed them. Rather than opening dialogue, the government’s response, predictably, has been marked by force and brutality.
The NEET examination, intended to standardize medical admissions has instead become synonymous with paper leaks, irregularities and administrative failures. Similar concerns have surfaced around other competitive examinations, leaving millions of aspirants questioning whether years of hard work are even worth it. In a country where education is widely seen as the primary path to social mobility, every compromised examination chips away at public trust. Interestingly, the very first leak of question papers was reported when the predecessor of NEET, known as All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) was in existence, way back in 1989. That was the year when the BJP first came to power at the Center in the VP Singh coalition government. This crisis did not begin yesterday. The infamous Vyapam scam had also exposed deep-rooted corruption in recruitment and entrance examinations, revealing how organized malpractice could infiltrate systems that were supposed to reward merit.
More than a decade later, one might have expected sweeping structural reforms, stronger institutional safeguards, transparency and accountability. When students gather to demand fairness, transparency, and reform, they are begging the state to preserve their future and the credibility of public institutions. The images of confrontations, detentions and use of force against students during their Sansad Chalo march raise obvious questions about the government’s willingness to listen.
History offers a clear warning. Student movements have repeatedly altered the political trajectory of nations. In Bangladesh in 1990, sustained student-led mobilization played a decisive role in the downfall of President Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s military-backed regime and in more recent times saw the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Hasina herself is in hiding in India. In Serbia in 2000, the student movement Otpor became one of the driving forces behind the mass protests that ended Slobodan Miloševi’s rule. More recently, student participation formed an important part of the broad-based demonstrations in Sri Lanka that culminated in the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.
Massive Gen Z protests led to the fall of the KP Sharma Oli government in Nepal in September 2025. These examples differ in their political contexts, but they share one common lesson. Governments and leaders that ignore mounting youth and public grievances pay the ultimate price. Political tides can shift with surprising speed. Governments that appear unassailable may find themselves confronting widespread public disillusionment the next season. Wise leaders must recognize this reality with humility as soon as possible. But often, power blinds leaders to shifting ground realities and the delay finishes them off. India may well be approaching an important political and social moment, shaped by the aspirations of its young citizens. The government’s response will help define that moment. The choice before political leaders is simple. Whether to meet criticism with conversation and reform or risk allowing grievances to grow into a much larger crisis. History suggests that listening early is always the wiser path.
