Something unprecedented happened in India recently. Young people from all walks of life, regardless of their educational background, economic class, caste, religion, political leaning, poured on to the streets of Delhi and refused to leave till their demands were met, toughening their resolve, inviting even more people to join them and spread the movement across the country.
And then the government blinked.
A government under which, for more than a decade, many of us had begun to feel increasingly disillusioned about the space for citizen protest. A political discourse in which protestors were often reduced to labels – anti-national, urban naxal, jihadi, khalistani and what not – rather than engaged with on the substance of their concerns. And eventually this language seeped into our homes too, turning relatives against each other and friends into foes.
But this time felt different.
But when did questioning a government become wrong?
Over the last ten years, I started avoiding all kinds of new channels, print media etc. The level of debate and discussion had gone so low that it was distasteful. Screaming matches on the national TV, browbeating anyone saying anything against the current dispensation became the norm. Once we stop calling people citizens and start calling them cockroaches/ traitors/ parasites/ anti-national/ jihadi / tukde tukde gang and so on …it becomes easier to stop listening to them.
And this was not limited to TV or social media. This vitriol also percolated our households, our Facebook feed and whatsapp chats. I will never forget when one of my cousins really berated my father on a family whatsapp chat, using the newly minted cuss words for people against the govts policies. My father was not supportive of demonetization – and instead of having a proper discussion with him on the merits/ demerits of the policy – she chose to cuss him – liberandu, libtard and so on. Yes ‘SHE’ – so those who are getting a culture shock that ‘betiyan’ of this country are endangering our ‘culture’ – let me remind them that it reached our families long ago – betas and betis and uncles and aunties using choicest words on their own friends and family who happened to hold a different political opinion – thanks to the infamous whatsapp university. The cousin in question is a late ‘baby boomer’ or early Gen X – so definitely not a ‘misguided’ or ‘bhatka hua’ child.
So yes, I got the culture shock long ago. Bad language, trolling elders and strangers became a norm long before GenZ even started college. But this wasn’t always the case.
My earliest political memories go back to when I was 5 years old – the 1984 general election. My grandmom was a staunch Congress supporter – but the younger generation (my dad, mom, uncles etc) – still smarting from the Emergency had turned against them. I remember going to vote with my dadi and teasing my dad when the Congress won eventually. But there was no ill will in the house.
Neither was there any ill will or ‘I told you so’ when my dad and some uncles changed their political leaning after 1992. Nor was there any ego involved in changing one’s political opinion. Because one’s choice was dependent on the actions, political beliefs of the parties in power. They were not tied to the party itself, but on whether that party was delivering. I have myself supported different political parties at different times – depending on how I felt they performed or what they stood for.
That is the whole point of a well functioning democracy – government is answerable to people that elected them. I firmly believe that supporting a government does NOT mean supporting everything it does. Nor do I believe that opposing a government means opposing everything it stands for. But history has shown us that unchecked power can move a democracy in an authoritarian direction. Dissent is critical to maintaining the democratic fabric of a country. (read my post on dissent here). Dissenting, questioning your government, protesting are actually forms of patriotism towards one’s country.
A new hope?
Hope seemed to be the dominant emotion after the recent protests. People realized that they still had some agency. That protests could matter and be heard by the govt. After years of a suffocating political climate in which speaking up was easier to avoid than to risk, these young people did something many of us had stopped believing was possible: they refused to stay quiet. They called out the government. They told us the emperor was, indeed, naked. And something in all of us shifted. Suddenly the shackles were lifted. The bubble had burst.
What struck me most was how many young people questioned the narratives they had grown up with. Not only did the ‘kids’ see through the propaganda, they made fun of it. Dhurandhar – great movie – let’s enjoy – but then also make memes out of it! The young people were perfectly capable of keeping enjoyment and fact separate.
Perhaps the language of hate is not working as effectively for the new generation of voters. A generation that seems to have realized that they need to continue questioning the govt., continue pressing them for their rights.
So, there is indeed a ray of hope when you see that kids and their elders come down on the streets, for an issue that may or may not be directly affecting them, but that which they believe is important for the growth of this nation.
Perhaps that is what this protest has given us – not certainty, but possibility. I don’t know what happens next. One protest cannot fix everything. One government response cannot repair the relationship between citizens and the state.
But I guess that is not the point. Sometimes a democracy needs a reminder that its citizens still have a voice. And sometimes citizens need a reminder that using that voice can still make a difference.
For me, that is what I am taking away from this protest.
Hope. And the belief that perhaps change is still possible.
This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Tanvi Agarwal.
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