Youth are the stormy petrel of dissent. Rebels with a passion, their cause is defence of egalitarianism. Dissent and democracy aren’t adversaries, but are made for each other in the marriage of politics and society. Any effort to curb contrarian narratives encourages confrontation and cripples democracy. For the past few months, constructive dissent is missing from the Indian political discourse—not because of the Opposition vacuum but thanks to ideological deformity.
When the Centre resorted to Constitutional adventurism, campuses revolted. For the past few weeks, the strident octaves of dissent against the democratically adopted Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) are resounding in the hallowed halls of mostly Left- controlled Universities. From the Northeast to the South, students, Opposition leaders and liberal libationaries are thronging the streets to protest against CAA. Public property has been damaged by arson and violence.
For the first time since 2014, the Modi government is encountering nationwide wrath against its legislative exercise. Moreover, it has been eviscerated by many countries that became Modi groupies inspired by his bold economic promises. Brand Modi faces a serious threat to its unchallenged marketability. This time the BJP’s nemesis is not inimical parties, but seems to be the youth anger gripping the dissent-fevered air of campuses across India. Many feel that high-voltage Hindutva is a counterproductive strategy now. The large turnouts at anti-government rallies everywhere reflects the shift in the national mood.
Students are the torchbearers of symbolism, their collective psyche forged in the fires of history. The striking students of minority-dominated Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi carried portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar to show their bellyache wasn’t about Muslim exclusion in CAA. They charged the BJP government of violating the Constitution that provides equal opportunities to all. Students from the Aligarh Muslim University and other minority academic institutions came out to demand withdrawal of CAA.
Ironically, protesting youth of AMU and Jamia have acquired the tag of constitutional defenders. Moreover, CAA has annoyed not only Muslims but also NDA’s allies in the Northeast. The fault for not convincing its core constituents is the BJP’s and the BJP’s alone. Realising a grave fallout, Modi himself struck a conciliatory note. He tweeted: “Violent protests on the Citizenship Amendment Act are unfortunate and deeply distressing. Debate, discussion and dissent are essential parts of democracy but, never has damage to public property and disturbance of normal life been a part of our ethos.”
The current turbulence must not be seen as a sudden outburst from opponents of Modi and his governance style. After losing decisively in two successive Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition and self-declared liberals have been looking for the PM to commit an error that could create a Modi-negative environment. CAA and NRC couldn’t have come at a better time for them.
They project CAA as a missile to destroy India’s secular character and torpedo the core of the Constitution. Since it provides automatic Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities like the Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Parsis of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh but excludes Muslim immigrants, anti-Modiites are branding his government as communal and anti-Constitution. Undoubtedly, the BJP’s manifesto promised citizenship to persecuted exiles from India’s neighbouring Muslim-dominated nations. But many of them have been living in India for decades.
By keeping Muslims out, the NDA made it clear that it will not tolerate illegal settlers from Bangladesh after 1971. Their repatriation has been the BJP’s clarion call. The current protests have provoked BJP insiders and supporters to question the need and the timing of CAA, albeit silently. The leadership has been boasting that the government has achieved its core Hindutva objective within less than six months of its second term. Article 370 was abolished.
Legislation against Triple Talaq came through. The BJP and the government won the Ram Mandir legal battle. Modi and Shah have been able to dismantle the anti-Hindu ecosystem to a large extent, making the word ‘secular’ irrelevant while demolishing the culture of minority appeasement. Almost the entire rainbow from the Congress to the Left saw soft Hindutva plus the temple run as the pot of vote-gold at its end. The hordes of Pakistan apologists were isolated and they almost retreated from diplomatic confabulations.
But CAA has provided them oxygen. Previously, mainstream political parties wouldn’t have joined Jamia and AMU students to take on the government. But a tactical misconstruction in the CAA’s wording has united them. Even the most ardent saffronites are wondering about the political propriety of keeping Muslims out of CAA.
The government could have achieved the same objective by granting Indian passports to all persecuted minorities in Islamic countries rather than blanket segregation. Despite strong clarifications from the Home Minister and officials that CAA wouldn’t impact the rights of Indian Muslims, the Opposition has succeeded in creating an impression that the Act is exclusively anti-Muslim and subverts Inclusive India. The omission of Hindu Tamils who fled Sinhalese ire in Sri Lanka has given anti-BJP forces extra torque.
Besides CAA, the contagious protests have raised doubts about the efficacy of the decision-making process. The government has been on a decision spree at an alarmingly high speed. Beginning with Demonetisation to GST, Article 370 and now CAA, Modi’s talent lies in weaponising surprise. Faulty implementation has created popular distrust about the government’s motives. The Opposition has been habitually lambasting the excessive concentration of power at the top.
The Centre doesn’t take all stakeholders including its allies into confidence when decisions on issues with national implications are made unilaterally. The BJP claims that it is only delivering on its manifesto promises by sidestepping delay. But its middle-level workers are bemoaning the poor delivery on Women’s Reservation in Parliament and Assemblies, establishing 75 medical colleges, bringing more land under assured irrigation, increasing National Highways, proving 20 million new jobs, Ganga cleansing, doubling exports, etc.
The BJP had pledged to build an equal-partnership Team India led by the prime minister, all chief ministers and others, which the Opposition says is an arbitrary non-starter. Since Modi is India’s most powerful and popular leader, he can still reverse the growing unrest by creating a genuine Team BJP and Team India. Self-serving turncoats and ladder climbers in BJP who are cultural and political aliens to Sangh ideology are denying him genuine feedback. Nationalism and Hindutva are strong cultural unifiers but cannot be the substitutes for sustainable growth. The BJP plans to host Amrut Mahotsav in 2022 to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence. Such jubilation of the Shreshta Bharat idea necessitates the strengthening of Participatory Democracy which it is also on the BJP manifesto. If justice delayed is justice denied, dissent denied is youth denied. At this juncture, the BJP, by being in denial, is doing itself an injustice.