Editorial: State violence to silence outrage

CHENNAI: All hell broke loose in the heart of the national capital as police and paramilitary forces resorted to a severe lathicharge and bursting of tear-gas shells to disperse students and youth demanding accountability for the bungling of examinations like NEET.

The unleashing of violence on unarmed students trapped in the melee cannot be easily glossed over. Horrifying videos capturing police high-handedness and the resilience of several youth have gone viral on social media. The perception that the State is at war with its own citizens is likely to gain ground with the damning visuals of barricades, specialised anti-riot vehicles, crowd-control equipment, and aggressive action by hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel in anti-riot gear.

The protestors were merely seeking a response, a token gesture or an acknowledgement from the elected government and the political party they voted to power. They argued that in a democracy, the government would on its own ask the minister concerned to take moral responsibility and resign. The least it could do was accept the growing demand for the resignation of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan.

One governance failure, however, led to another. The ruling party, for reasons best known to it, remained impervious to the fervent pleas of the youth. When the government did respond, it was to disrupt the ongoing hunger strike by Sonam Wangchuk. The political establishment was caught off guard by the turn of events, and the situation threatened to spiral out of control. Even the half-hearted effort at talks between CJP leaders and Union Minister JP Nadda only worsened the situation. The youth felt the move was marked by duplicity and one-upmanship, smacking of political arrogance and hubris. It deepened their distrust and confirmed their worst fears about the government’s intentions. Monday ended in the violent suppression of a peaceful protest, but by the following morning, resolute protestors were back at Jantar Mantar, determined to continue their demonstration.

That is how the government has been responding to legitimate and peaceful protests since 2014, and it had no reason to change its strategy as citizens seemed to have acquiesced to it by voting it to power twice since then. But something seems to have changed since 2024, and the BJP appears to be oblivious to the simmering discontent, growing frustration, and raging anger among the youth and large sections of society.

What began as a protest against problems plaguing the education system is now threatening to snowball into a full-blown credibility crisis for the government, casting doubt on its capacity for efficient governance. In the minds of the youth, the NEET paper leak scandal became a microcosm of a larger governance failure. The tall claims of a corruption-free administration are now beginning to sound incredulous and even hollow. The propaganda playbook is failing too, especially with its diminishing dominance on social media, particularly youth-centric Instagram.

The protest has exposed political and governance fault lines at several levels. If people begin to suspect a political party of trying to remain electorally and politically invincible not by popular mandate but by other means, the tide could turn against it later, if not sooner. Any high-handed approach from now on will be counterproductive.