The other day, history took an about turn in the Supreme Court. The same court that had referred to the unemployed youth of the country as "cockroaches" a few months back, was now out to protect the same youth from the scourge of the state.
One can call it poetic justice or return of the history but whatever it is, it certainly is an indication of a change in the air that seems rather refreshing and heartening. The country owes a big thank you to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Surya Kant for naming the youths "cockroaches". If he had not said that, we probably would not have heaved the sigh of relief we are now taking.
To be fair to Justice Surya Kant, he did try to clarify his comments the next day after severe backlash from the civil society, but the damage was done. A millennial Gen-Z represent sitting thousands of kilometres away from Delhi, created an account on Instagram and India seemingly changed.
A Self-Goal
This is a story of a self-goal. This is a story of the cleverest of all committing the silliest of mistakes. This is a story of the humbling of the most powerful man across the Sindhu. This is the story of the unmasking of the true face of the government.
And this is also the story of the rebirth of the collective conscience of ‘We the People’, which had gone into a deep slumber in the last decade or so. Whatever the story, the beast has woken up and it is roaring to be counted and heard.
It is the response to the rising democratic consciousness that has forced the Supreme Court and the government to announce that it is withdrawing FIRs lodged against the youths and students brutally beaten up on 20 July. Though the battle is still half won as the government has declared it will not withdraw FIRs against those who have criminal antecedents, which can prove to be an alibi to harass a few in future.
But then, that is a story for the future. In the present, the story is simple. That democracy is not the name of a one-way path, democracy is a two-way process.
So, the march of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on 5 September has been withdrawn. This is no mean achievement for the Gen-Z movement only a few weeks old. This is no mean achievement, the context being, a senior retired government officer is still being picked up from his morning walk, taken to the police station and interrogated for nine hours by Delhi police. It is CJP’s fourth back-to-back victory.
First was obviously when the central education minister Dharmendra Pradhan was asked to resign by the central government. This was the first resignation of a cabinet minister in the last twelve years under social and political pressure. This was the government that used to boast to boast of 'no resignations' under the Modi regime.
Then was the turn of chairman of the Bar Council of India, Mannan Kumar Mishra. He, out of his stupidity, issued an order to state bar councils that the students of 2026 batch of NALSAR should not be admitted to the bar, which meant that these students could not practice law after passing out from the university. Mishra had also asked NALSAR to enquire and file a report about the students who were protesting against the invitation of CJI for the convocation ceremony. Within two hours, Mishra had to withdraw his order sent to state bar councils, and in the next two and half hours, he had to withdraw the entire order. Now, he might lose his chairmanship too.
As a collateral damage, NALSAR has to cancel its convocation ceremony and CJI Surya Kant has to say that since he never received an invitation from the university, the question of attending the ceremony as chief guest does not arise.
As a matter of fact, CJI as chancellor of the university goes every year there and confers degrees to the students. But then, that is an old story.
Damage Control
The understanding which was reached between the government and the CJP, was simple—Dharmendra Pradhan had to resign, FIRs lodged against the students had to be withdrawn and compensation to the families to be given whose kids committed suicide due to the leaks of the NEET papers.
After Pradhan’s resignation, the dharna was lifted but the Delhi Police was not willing to honour the second promise. It unleashed a propaganda war, an attempt was made to portray that Jantar Mantar assembly was not of students, but of anti-social elements. Their supporters in the central government and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), called them "anti-nationals", part of a foreign conspiracy to destabilise the Modi Government. One gentleman from Kerala dared to say if he had been there, he would have imposed curfew and given three warnings to disperse the protesters before ordering the police to shoot and that the dead would have been taken to hospital and counted. This person, TG Mohan Das, who belongs to the RSS. is now in jail.
The ruling dispensation refused to acknowledge that pellet guns were used despite Rahul Gandhi bringing before the media one such victim, Sahil Lochab, who might lose his eyesight, to tell his story. Delhi Police brazenly did not lodge his FIR and finally Rahul Gandhi had to go to Sansad Marg police thana to request the cops to file an FIR. Still the police did not budge. He had to resort to a dharna and finally, after eight hours, good sense prevailed and an FIR was registered.
In the meantime, the Prime Minister and the home minister refused to face the Parliament. The Opposition was demanding a statement from the home minister that Amit Shah should explain if he ordered the firing of pellet guns on the students on 20 July. This is probably the only incident in the history of the parliament when both the PM and the HM did not come to the house despite being in the country in the entire session except the last day for three minutes ten seconds.
This is not just bizarre but a reflection of how scared the government appears to face the house and admit its accountability as per the will of the people expressed through the lower house of the Parliament.
Now let’s put events in sequence. First the resignation of the minister, the nonappearance of the PM and the HM in house, then apology of the Bar Chairman, followed by registration of FIR and cancellation of the CJI’s presence in NALSAR, and now withdrawal of FIRs. This tells a story. The story is not complicated. It is simple and straightforward. The government of the day has realised that enough damage has been done.
The Sheen is Gone
The credibility of the government and of the ruling party i.e., BJP is down in the dumps and it will take a Herculean effort on the part of the party to redeem itself. It is not easy. Politics is not about reality but about perception. The government and the party, which had spent millions and takes great pride in image making and thrives on the creative and destructive use of propaganda, has lost the perception war. Once a leader is mocked and ridiculed in full public view, it should be understood that the leader has lost their mojo and the time has come to take a back seat.
The guardian of the Constitution, the Supreme Court, is trying to redeem itself from the curse of the statement made by the CJI. Undoubtedly the CJI has explained and clarified himself many times but there are very few takers. The Supreme Court also has to do some penance to refurbish its image.
Let’s not forget that in India people have a very low opinion about politicians, who are more feared than respected. But the courts as institutions still command the respect of the masses, though that too is now declining. It is the last refuge for victimised citizens. People still have hope that even if they are wronged and denied justice by politicians and governments, they will not be disappointed if they ring the bells of justice at the Supreme Court.
With a heavy heart, I must say, that confidence has eroded and people are now feeling betrayed. It is this hurt feeling which galvanised the Gen-Z to make a statement at the Jantar Mantar and they succeeded, albeit partly. Democracy has been restored up to a point. But, the Supreme Court and judiciary have to play a major role if they want to redeem themselves fully.
(Ashutosh is co-founder of SatyaHindi and a former member of AAP. This is an opinion piece. All views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)