Gen Z and opposition movements: Why did the language of protest change so rapidly in India?
Author, Imran Qureshi
Designation for BBC Hindi
Published 2 minutes ago
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi are protesting in Delhi, Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and Cockroach Janata Party leader Abhijit Deepke and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.
At present, protests are going on in all parts of the country demanding the removal of SIR and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Which includes a large number of Gen Z.
Earlier, Cockroach Janata Party had protested at Jantar Mantar in Delhi regarding the NEET paper leak and in July, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had to resign.
Rarely in the last several decades has the language of any movement changed so rapidly in such a short period of time as it has in the last few months.
India has seen many big movements. Many of these movements had an impact on every section of the society. But is there anything different this time?
Political commentators also surprised by Abhijeet Deepke's remarks
One such movement took place when a large number of young boys and girls took to the streets to protest against the rape of a girl in a moving bus in Delhi. After this, for the first time, major changes were made in the decades-old rape laws.
Similarly, there was a big movement against corruption under the leadership of a Gandhian leader.
But for the first time in the last 12 years, during the last three-four months, such things have been said in public forums, which even the biggest opposition leaders did not dare to say.
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These things are being said by the common youth present at Jantar Mantar or other places. Leaders like Abhijeet Deepke, who has suddenly come into limelight by starting the Cockroach Janata Party i.e. CJP, are also saying such things.
Last week, while addressing a public meeting in Mumbai's Shivaji Park, Deepke said something which even experienced political commentators were surprised to hear.
He said, "I am the son of a poor mother. Because of you, all the children became sons of poor mothers."
After this he made another comment, which was directly about India's most powerful Home Minister Amit Shah.
Deepke challenged Amit Shah to get him arrested. He said that Shah will also face the same fate as Dharmendra Pradhan.
What is happening in the country?
Veteran political commentator Sanjeev Srivastava told BBC News Hindi, "The enthusiasm of the youth of the country is now changing. Now they are not satisfied with the situation remaining the same or sitting idle."
"We used to think that India is a society that does not want change in the current situation. But in the last few months, this tradition is breaking."
What is different this time from earlier movements?
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All the movements in the last 12 years were largely limited to certain communities. These included the farmers' movement demanding withdrawal of three agricultural laws.
Farmers were afraid that the government would not provide minimum support price (MSP) for their produce. This will leave them dependent on international companies and private traders.
The movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act was also limited to one community. This movement spread across the country and 76 people died in it.
Like the farmers' movement, it did not last for about a year. Nevertheless this movement continued for four months. After Covid arrived, the agitating women returned to their homes.
Veteran political commentator Aarti Jerath told BBC News Hindi that the difference visible today is even more than this.
He said, "The people taking to the streets today are the children of BJP voters. Their parents from the middle and lower middle class had voted for the BJP. This class also included a large number of women's votes. These women especially became the basis of support for Narendra Modi."
He said, "The large number of women who came out in these movements, from there the government was completely shaken."
"The government was successful in handling other movements. But now the same people have turned against it on basic issues like education, jobs and unemployment."
"These are issues that impact ordinary people across the country. They impact people of every gender and caste."
Madhavan Narayanan, another experienced commentator on political and economic affairs, agrees with Aarti Jerath to some extent.
But he told BBC News Hindi, "The courage to speak openly in the entire political conversation is gradually increasing. One reason for this is that technically there is an NDA government in the country, not just BJP."
"Therefore, a kind of hope is visible among the political classes regarding the anti-incumbency environment."
He said, "But amidst this environment, we saw that when the Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant used the word 'cockroach', it further brought down the level of political conversation."
"He touched the sore spot of Gen Z. During this time, the issue of paper leak in NEET exam also came up. Both these things touched two sensitive issues."
He said, "The first thing is that instead of considering a particular type of activism as democratic activity, you are calling it parasitic activity."
"Apart from this, there is real concern among the youth and the lower middle class. Politics always takes a sharp turn when the lower middle class is angry. This anger found a face in the form of Abhijeet Tibke."
According to Narayanan, apart from all this, the Special Intensive Revision of Voter Lists or SIR also raised fundamental questions.
He said that this question arose after 13 crore voters were deprived of their voting rights and it was linked to fundamental rights.
He said, "This movement is gaining acceptance in the society. The result of this is that the language has become more outspoken. This change is visible in both the demands and the language being used for them."
Government reaction and uncertainty
The government does not have any ready-made method or effective answer to deal with the changing situation.
The methods adopted in the last 10 to 12 years are no longer proving to be that effective. Sometimes they can also have adverse effects. Jantar Mantar of Delhi has been mentioned as an example of this.
Can such movements change the politics of the country?
Sanjeev Srivastava said, "Call this generation the new generation, Gen Z or Gen Alpha, it is challenging every previously set rule."
"You can see and feel this change."
He said, "There are social and economic reasons behind this, despair and hope to move forward, everything is included."
"The government does not have any ready-made method or effective answer to deal with the changing situation."
"The old methods used in the last 10 to 12 years are now proving to be less effective. Sometimes they can even have the opposite effect, as was seen at Jantar Mantar in July."
"Its influence is waning, especially among the youth of North, West and Central India. The limits of its appeal were already visible in South India."
"Now the youth are setting their own conditions. But it is too early to say anything about this."
Aarti Jerath said that the government does not understand how to deal with this situation.
She believes that many efforts are being made to connect with Gen Z. For example, RSS is trying to do this.
All parties want Gen Z
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also announced plans to attract Gen Z.
But Jerath found it strange that when the country needs employment and investment, some Indian companies are closing their steel plants here and setting them up in America.
"I think these elections will be the real test of where the BJP and the opposition stand."
"Therefore, we will have to wait for these elections before passing any decision."
