India’s education minister has resigned, and the Modi government has been forced to concede to the remaining demands of the Cockroach Janta Party (CRJ).
The government has agreed to substantial compensation for the families of students who allegedly died by suicide after the examination paper leak and has pledged not to prosecute those who took to the streets in protest.
This is no ordinary political concession. It is a rare victory for people over power.
For weeks, young Indians marched under a merciless sun, with temperatures soaring above 40°C. When the rains came, they stood their ground.
They refused to surrender to fear, intimidation, or exhaustion. They were fighting not merely over a leaked examination paper, but against an education system they believed had robbed them of their future.
And they won.
In forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to retreat, these young protesters accomplished what India’s opposition parties have been unable to achieve for more than a decade.
They demonstrated a truth that authoritarian governments fear above all else: organized citizens, united by a just cause, can still move mountains.
After the symbolic victory of the CJP, the question is what next for the revolutionary young force.
Modi came to power in 2014 as India’s PM. And since then, he has wreaked havoc on every aspect of India’s democratic institutions and its secular outlook.
He has complete control over the election process, which assures him victory after victory. He appoints judges who dare not rule against what he wants.
The media, the laughingstock in the world press, is teased as Godi media, meaning “sitting on the lap of Modi.”
And for the record, he has set the world record among world leaders for never facing a press conference since becoming prime minister in 2014.
Can the Cockroach Janta Party, instead of folding itself after this historic victory, move forward and tackle Modi and the BJP governments in other states bulldozing mosques and Muslim residences, bullying minorities and threatening the members of the lower caste communities, and seek the prolonged jail release of political prisoners?
There is a lot of agenda that the Cockroach Janta Party can undertake with its youthful, spirited force.
For India, now hope lies in Cockroach.
Promod Puri
Promod Puri resides in Vancouver, Canada. He is the former editor, publisher and founder of The South Asian Canadian newspaper The Link, published from Surrey, Canada. Puri is the author of ‘Hinduism beyond rituals, customs and traditions’. Websites: promodpuri.com, progressivehindudialogue.com
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