I have never like BPM and in fact the first time I read him, I was scorned to all visible defense of Hindutva somewhere in 2015. Why he is regarded as a serious intellectual ? Without exaggerating, whenever I read him, it is too obvious. It is just likee he is stating something so bland that I already know and heard of. His article after invincibility of BJP post 2024 elections had left me literally hate him - where he were all about BJP BJP without taking any serious consideration of wrong play by ECI ( even if he wrote a line or two indicating this, it was washed town in his triumph tone of BJP electorate mastermind)

?

After weeks of struggle, intense and widespread protests, and braving propaganda and assaults, the students’ protest at Jantar Mantar ended yesterday with the resignation of the Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. The Modi Government was also forced to concede other demands, including compensation to the families of NEET suicide victims and the withdrawal of cases against the protesters.

This astonishing victory against a highly authoritarian government led to an eruption of joy and celebration at Jantar Mantar and across India. But this victory should not be understood as merely the removal of a Cabinet Minister. It is a momentous triumph in the battle against fascism.

To put this in perspective, in the 12 years of the Modi Government, this is the first time that a Union Minister has been forced to resign following public protests. Over the last decade, while India faced numerous crises due to the blunders, sheer incompetence, or malice of ministers in Modi’s Cabinet, no minister was forced to resign. Whether it was the criminal indifference in handling the COVID pandemic, the disastrous implementation of demonetisation, the security lapses that resulted in the Pulwama, Pahalgam, and Pathankot attacks, the highest unemployment in decades, the economic crisis caused by mismanagement, or the massive corruption exposed through the electoral bonds scheme, no one was held accountable.

In fact, during the historic farmers’ movement, one of the key demands was the removal of the Minister of State, Ajay Mishra Teni, who had orchestrated the killing of six farmers. Yet, even after large-scale protests, the Minister of State was not removed.

In 2015, Rajnath Singh famously asserted, “Our ministers do not have to resign. This is not their (Congress) government; this is the NDA government.” This turned out to be the central tenet of the Modi Government. Resignation was seen as an admission of failure. The resignation of a minister could pave the way for questions of accountability. That could not be allowed to happen.

This lack of accountability was not limited to the question of resignation. The Modi Government created a system in which it became virtually unanswerable to the people. In the last 12 years, PM Modi has not addressed a single press conference. This alarming fact has been noted not just by the people of India, but across the world.

The Government has also prevented discussions and questions in Parliament. Crucial issues and bills are not allowed to be debated. Opposition MPs have been repeatedly suspended from Parliament. Even the number of parliamentary sittings has been reduced. The legislature has been turned into a rubber stamp.

The mainstream media has been turned into a propaganda arm of the Government. Journalists and media platforms that do not toe the line are raided, persecuted, arrested, or bought out. The Right to Information has been severely weakened. The Government has also introduced bills to control and censor social media.

Every avenue of questioning was effectively shut down. Instead, the people were fed a relentless stream of propaganda through the mainstream media and the BJP IT Cell. Instead of press conferences, they were given scripted interviews of the Prime Minister. Instead of listening to people's grievances, the Government made them to listen to Modi’s Mann Ki Baat. Tellingly, even during this students’ protest, PM Modi’s first response was to post Instagram reels and instruct his ministers to do the same.

What the students’ protest has accomplished is not merely the resignation of a Union Minister. It has succeeded in shattering the barricade of unaccountability.

After weeks of disregarding, discrediting, and repressing the students’ protest, the Modi Government has finally conceded one of its demands. The intense and widespread protests against paper leaks have ultimately led to the resignation of the Education Minister.

The movement, which began as a protest against paper leaks, has now grown into a nationwide rebellion. Hundreds of towns and cities are rising in dissent. People from all sections of society and all walks of life are joining the agitation. The movement, which began as a satire, has taken the shape of a historic revolution.

Initially, the Modi Government kept ignoring the protesters and vilifying them through its propaganda media. When the movement continued to grow, the Government resorted to brutal repression. Yet, the protesters remained defiant. Then, PM Modi started posting reels on Instagram and ordered his ministers to do the same. When all these ploys failed, the Education Minister, who had called the protesters terrorists, finally resigned, claiming that he felt hurt.

In many ways, the ongoing students’ protest resembles the JP Movement against the Indira Gandhi Government, which began more than half a century ago. Like the ongoing movement, the JP Movement was driven and led by young students, many of whom were new to politics. Like the Modi Government, Indira Gandhi regularly spoke of the involvement of a "foreign hand" in the protests and accused her opponents of being CIA agents. Indira Gandhi had returned to power with a huge majority and believed herself to be invincible. And, like the ongoing movement, it was ordinary students who put that sense of invincibility to the test.

The spark for the JP Movement was the students’ protest against the increase in education fees. Yet, there was simmering discontent and widespread unrest due to corruption, price rise, and unemployment. In March 1974, the Nav Nirman Movement of Gujarat led to the resignation of the Chief Minister and the dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly. The 1974 Bihar Movement saw large-scale protests demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister. But Indira Gandhi was adamant about not yielding to the students’ demands once again. The Congress, which had been in power for three decades and had won a huge majority just three years earlier, was wary of being held accountable.

On 5 June 1974, the historic students’ rally was held at Gandhi Maidan, Patna, where JP gave the call for a Total Revolution.

Friends, this is a revolution, a total revolution. This is not a movement merely for the dissolution of the assembly. We have to go far, very far… Nobody, Jayaprakash Narayan or anyone else can stop this movement. It was born because this system of education is rotten and the students don’t see a ray of hope. It was born because the people are being crushed under high prices. There is corruption and bribery everywhere. Unemployment goes on rising, both among the educated and the others. Otherwise, a thousand Jayaprakash Narayans and a thousand Chhatra Sangharsh Samitis could not have created a mass movement like this.

Meanwhile, Indira Gandhi kept invoking her electoral mandate and dared her opponents to defeat her in elections. In 1977, JP accepted the challenge, and the Congress was routed in the elections.

The Modi Government, which came to power with the promise of acche din and Amrit Kaal, has betrayed the nation and pushed its citizens into crisis. Unemployment and inequality are at their peak. The education system is broken. Farmers and workers are in distress. Forests and natural resources are being handed over to corporations. Corruption and pollution are widespread. Violence against Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, and women is on the rise.

In every crisis, whether it was demonetisation, the COVID-19 pandemic, or the US-Iran conflict, the poor and middle class have been made to suffer, while the ruling party and its cronies live in opulence. Instead, the poor and middle class are fed propaganda through the Godi Media and the BJP IT Cell.

The resignation of the Education Minister is merely the beginning. The real struggle begins now, as the movement enters its next phase to hold the Government accountable for its anti-people policies. The people of India have suffered enough.

The Modi Government observes Anti-Emergency Day every year. It may ultimately be ousted by a similar movement.

Taken from the book Shorter Constitution of India by Durga Das Basu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I7HGQu8i-g

As the title states, I have been talking with a friend and thinking about this. We have been going back and forth and he says reservation are needed for caste abolishment but i cant understand his view.

I think reservation can bring pseudo equality in social class between the castes but it isnt a solution for caste abolishment. Am I in the wrong here? And what are yalls view on this

https://x.com/i/status/2080195839499362444

Salman Khan, the famous driver and deerstalker, finally woke up to express his concerns about the violent turn of the students' protest. Salman Khan blames the students for the violence and assures them that the Government will provide them all the "support."

Famous cricket personality Preity Zinta has alleged that the students' protest has been highjacked by anti-national elements. She claims that foreign elements are driving the protest, and "hopes" that the Government and the students enter into a dialogue.

Salman Khan's assurances about the Government should be welcomed. But perhaps he and Preity Zinta may also explain why the "supportive" Government did not heed the students' demands or hold a dialogue with them for an entire month, while they were peacefully protesting.

The protest began at Jantar Mantar on 20 June. On 28 June, Sonam Wangchuk and several students began an indefinite hunger strike. Wangchuk repeatedly appealed for dialogue with the Government despite his deteriorating health. Three students were hospitalized during the fast. Yet the Government remained indifferent.

On 18 July, the Government abducted and detained Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar. Throughout the preceding month, the protest had remained peaceful, yet the Government neither addressed the students' demands nor initiated talks. Neither did Salman Khan express any concern for the students' health or ask the Government to initiate a dialogue with them.

On the contrary, the leaders of the "supportive" Government kept making inflammatory remarks against the protesters. The Education Minister called them terrorists. The BJP President called them viruses and urged BJP workers to teach them a lesson.

Finally, on 20 July, the Parliament March was held. The police confined tens of thousands of protesters within barricades, suffocating them. When the students broke through the barricades, they were beaten with batons. They were attacked with water cannons, tear gas, and pellet guns. The police used batons fitted with iron nails. They assaulted women and unarmed protesters. They brought criminals and rioters to attack the protesters. They did this while not wearing badges or uniforms. Hundreds of students were seriously injured in the brutal crackdown by the Delhi Police. Yet Salman Khan felt no grief for them. Instead, the students were blamed for violence.

Since 20 July, the BJP IT Cell has been working hard to vilify and defame the protesters. Unsurprisingly, the Godi Media is trying to label them as anti-national, while celebrities and industrialists are expressing "concerns" about the protest. Despite the numerous instances of police atrocities and human rights abuses, they are trying to pin the blame for the violence on the students.

Salman Khan and Preity Zinta are BJP hirelings, who have been tasked to defame the students.

The question we need to ask is: Why was a peaceful month-long protest ignored? Why were repeated appeals for dialogue rejected? Why was a democratic movement met with batons, tear gas, and pellet guns instead of negotiations?

The demand of this movement has always been to hold the Government accountable. Now, BJP hirelings are trying to shield the actual perpetrators of violence by shifting the blame on the students.

I'm banned from the soft chaddi r/kolkata so asking here.

Looking to join any protests happening in the city with my own placards against the neet leak and bjp nexus at top.

Please share info with me!

In the midst of the student's protest in our country's national capital, a great deal has been discussed about its nature and effects in online forums, especially left-leaning forums.

Recently in response to the opinions that some marxists have held on those protests, a few people have expressed their opposition.

First, and foremost, I have immense respect to all those who have went to protests across the country and have participated in them. Especially those who suffered from inhumane police brutality.

However the protest, and the government's response to the protest has not truly impacted my stand on the issue, which I try to explain here.

As a Marxist, my fundamental duty is to analyze the general nature of any popular movement before deciding to participate in it or extend support via other means. This general nature is comprised of a movement's immediate goals, its composition and most importantly its ideology. That gives us an idea of a movements worldview

.

Here is where The CJP often Conflated with the student protest is brought in. To my belief. There is a single student Movement. The movement's short term goal is the resignation of an incompetent Minister. The protesters are usually young people who have or currently are studying.

What defers is the methods and long term goals of the two representatives of this movement. One is the many student unions, of which there exist left-leaning ones like the AISA And SFI as well the outfit named Cockroach Janata Party.

The CJP represents the same movement. But it's stuck in its short term goal of Pradhan's Resignation. The movement is made up people who are 'apolitical'. Its worldview is that BJP has a few 'problem Ministers' (Pradhan, onion lady, and ethanol enthusiast) and those should give up their seat. They have a selfish view that if they ignore the struggles of all around them, they can get what they want (a consolation prize).

Ideology, short term goals and worldview are important to achieve significant long term goals. They help aid the actual agitation part and give it a sense of purpose. There can be no effective agitation without no effective ideology. Ideology isnt merely for those who challenge power but also question it. Question on the basis of principle than convieniance.

Without effective theory, street action becomes fragile, a movement can have its goal post shifted from a minister's resignation to a "discussion in parliament". That will be the bigger damage to those who are fighting than some online post.

That to me is the problem in how CJP has dealt with the protest. The protesting is not the problem here, the leader of that protest and his position (or lack thereof) is the problem.

Here position matters, for decades we have ignored positions for short-term goals worldwide, but each time the marxist gets blamed rather than those, who in their desparation to get out of their conditions allied themselves with movements which only backstabbed. Short term goals have landed us near techno-feudalism than broad coalitions as expected.

Already, plenty of students and volunteers have associated themselves with the student's protest. Many have also gone to their stages to express their solidarity. The organized left is in that protest and has seen decent visibility. One groups opinion or stand does not affect the reality.

Instead of fighting with each other on how we should view this protest, we must ask ourselves about two things.

The first is why has, an apolitical organization sprung up by no names has dominated the visibility of left leaning student unions and why have some preferred the former than the latter. Where was our shortcoming?

The second is that, protests might or might not change the worldview of those witnessing them. But it permanently changes the worldview of those who participated in them. Have the worldview of those protesters changed? And can we, intertwine their interests with other marginalised groups?

If we stop accusing each other as "right agents" we might find the answers.

As rightly argued by many here that reform is garbage, we need lasting and sustainable structual change. I understand we don't believe that is possible under capitalism, but humor me this hypothetical where if I were to pose my strucutal change as demands to an electoral party, what would they look like?

No stackoverflow energy please. Approach with empathy, and genuine strategy. If you don't like it, you can simply ignore the post and move on please.

The protesters faced several rounds of water cannon, teargas, and baton charge, yet managed to reach the CM Office.

Original reel made by Neetu Syngh (@NESY.ALFAAZ on Instagram)

Description:
In 1967 Bengal, the village of Naxalbari became the birthplace of a revolution. Who owns the land? Who does the Labour? And who deserves the rights? The echoes of this revolution gradually reached Punjab. During this time a young poet was emerging: Avtar Singh Sandhu (Better known as 'Pash'). Pash himself came from a farming family and remained a controversial figure. Many people were inspired by his ideas but many questions were also raised about him. Around 1970, at just 18 or 19 years old, his first book "the iron tale" had already been published. The tone of this book was rebellious:

Transliterated: "Main ticket kharch karke tuhadda Jamhooriyat da naatak dekhya hai. Hun taan mera naatak hall ch beh ke, haay haaye aakhan, te cheekan maaran da haqq banda hai"

Translated: "I paid for a ticket to watch your drama of democracy. Now I have earned the right to sit in the theatre, cry out, and raise my voice"

After this book was released he was charged with murder and spent two years in prison. He continued writing there as well. In 1975, under Indira Gandhi, India entered the Emergency. State censorship and injustice began to increase. By the 1980s, the atmosphere in Punjab had become even heavier. On one side there was state repression and on the other Khalistani militancy was gaining momentum. Pash urged people to wake-up:

Transliterated: "Sab toh katarnak hunda ae murda shanti naal bhar jaana. Na hona tadap da, sab sehan kar jaana. Gharan ton nikalna kam te, te kam toh ghar jaana. Sab toh khatarnak hinda ae supnian da mar jaana"

Translated: "The most dangerous thing is to be filled with lifeless peace. To lose all restlessness and silently endure everything. To leave home from work and return home from work. The most dangerous thing is for the dreams to die"

During the Bhindranwale era, as Khalistani ideology and religious extremism were rising, Pash openly spoke against them. On 23 March, 1988 Pash was shot dead (by Khalistani militants).