India saw a beautiful uprising last month, when crowds of protestors mobilised at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to demonstrate against the central government on a range of grievances, beginning with a NEET examination leak and extending to demands for accountability, transparency, and systemic overhaul. The protest resulted in the first-ever resignation from this regime, from former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. A palpable anti-establishment sentiment demanding change could be felt online as well, in large parts because the campaign was spearheaded by Gen-Z protestors who used their web presence to great effect. Since then, however, young women and girls who participated either on the ground or virtually have been singled out for punishment.
In one of the more egregious instances, a 15-year-old was named in an FIR, doxxed, gone into hiding along with her widowed mother, and forced to put forth a public apology. Women across the country have reported being identified by right-wing social media handles and harassed, and even being assaulted by family members.
It appears that this crackdown has sanction from the nation’s highest office. On July 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a video that he had experienced “cultural shock” upon hearing derogatory statements from the country’s “daughters”, but that he is willing to forgive those who have insulted him.
Abusive language towards women, especially in online spaces and through the IT cells of various political parties, is very much a part of contemporary Indian culture. But when women deploy the same kind of jargon, it is perceived as destabilising to the nation itself. These are not just double standards. Such a response is indicative of the designated place of women within this culture, and outspoken women have always faced retribution. For the Prime Minister to suggest that young women are wayward and in need of guidance can only instigate more such retribution from private quarters and vigilante groups.
The disproportionate attacks on women protestors are deeply concerning, but they do not occur within a vacuum. The police brutality at Jantar Mantar included the use of pellets, which was first practised in Kashmir. Police brutality itself is extant in India, and Tamil Nadu is no exception. The muzzling of free speech is also not new, and that a minor has been persecuted extra-legally for the same, is one more clear death knell for our civic liberties. In a democracy, a politician may feel personally hurt by criticism, as any human being would be, but no state apparatus would be galvanised in response — and neither would citizenry be encouraged to turn on one another. To hound and to destroy women is a classic war tactic, but here one war, at least, has always been against women.
So, the rage of women is ancient, and sometimes it is expressed in vitriol that is unrefined, but it is no less wise. The young adults of this country, and soon-to-be-adults, who put their necks on the line at Jantar Mantar and beyond are its bravest citizens today.
However they have phrased it, they have spoken truth to power, directly. The demand for meaningful change has not been this strongly, collectively, advocated for in years.
