The Return of 'Andolanjivi's'

The tukde-tukde gang has returned, under a different garb but it has returned with a vengeance. Every few years since 2014—the year the Congress Party decisively lost power at the center—the so-called social activists keep popping up with some sort of ‘andolan’, some sort of protest against the government. Now, protesting against the government or government policies is not only a fundamental aspect of a functioning democracy, but in a lot of cases, it is critical for the masses to rise and stand up together. Protests against anti-democratic measures taken by the government play an important role in maintaining democratic principles. But the protests that we have seen, mostly in Delhi, against the government since 2014 are flimsy to begin with. First, the protest or the controversy in 2014–15 was about how democracy is being killed in India. Not sure how to buy that argument since the only change India made in 2014 was to actually vote out en masse the existing ruling party. Then the subsequent protests were against the CAA—a constitutional mandate that the central government is expected to execute, but measures that were never undertaken since independence. Despite these measures being a constitutional mandate, the protesters ostensibly accused the government of killing democracy!

Then came the Farm Bills—reforms designed to open the agricultural market. The opposition to them was impressively orchestrated: organizers mobilized massive crowds, co-opted extremist elements, and eventually led a violent rampage until the government backed down

If a keen observer from outside of India were to opine on these protests, then he or she would likely conclude that the central government is indeed anti-democratic and despotic. The hoopla these protests create in the internet world and in the foreign media should be a case study for a college-level communication course. The intensity these protests espouse in local media and in foreign media like the NYT is of staggering proportions. It’s like a close-up shot in a movie. The basis of the protests is never analyzed. The premise is never questioned. Even a basic question like why these protests happen mainly only in Delhi and nowhere else, is never entertained. The India media also exaggerates the situation but for entirely different reason. Indian media houses, for most purposes, are only about viewership. Their only mantra is to bring more viewers so they can continue to advertise on 40% of the screen. Not much is expected from them.

A pertinent question to ask at this juncture is: why do these protests then fizzle out? Let’s look at some of the factors:

The phony issues of the protests – The majority of the protests looked politically motivated. Now, politically motivated protests can be rationalized. But the hidden politics behind these protests does not belong to Indian politics! Which rational political actor would oppose a farmer’s right to sell to the highest bidder, or a standard update of the voter rolls? Regional parties quickly realized that backing these illogical stances offered little political upside, leaving Congress-led initiatives isolated. In the event that the BJP manages to use these protests to rile up their political base, the brunt will be faced by regional parties. For example, in the current so-called CJP-led protest, one hardly sees active engagement from any of the regional political parties. Moreover, the protesters consistently failed to provide logical and rational proof for their argument. It was always ‘trust me bro’. This sort of logical jugglery may work for a while, but protests built on such a flimsy base are bound to fizzle out.

No ground support – Most of these protests do not have ground support. The farm bills, for example, were primarily opposed by Punjab farmers. Even farmers in the neighboring states of UP or Himachal Pradesh did not actively support them. The CAA protest was painted as anti-Muslim, immediately creating a diametrically opposite force among people who decided to support the CAA. Even the current protest does not have base support, since protesting against a constitutional post is quite confusing. We can protest against democratically elected ministers and force them to resign, but why protest so much against a bureaucratic post where the person will retire in a year or so anyway? Such protests also do not have any issue that impacts wider swaths of the population. It also does not help these ‘andolanjivis’ that the economy is humming along and an overwhelming majority of the people are busy making an honest living.

This is the exact trap AAP fell into: perpetual agitation without constructive solutions eventually exhausts voters. India’s electorate is busy earning a living, not looking for a permanent revolution.

This brings me to the last point on the topic.

The ‘fake’ protesters – After the so-called farmers, and then the Muslim protesters against the CAA, the protester job has gone to the so-called university student politician—especially student politicians from leftist organizations. Leftist ideology has almost vanished in India. The CPI(M) Kerala election, their last power bastion. And with that, this ideology has ceased to be a major political voice in the country. In short, the democracy that these leftists claim is in danger is the very force that rejected their ideology comprehensively! Even among the so-called leftists, student activists are the worst. It seems like they do not pass exams, do not graduate, and keep creating a nuisance in the university with no apparent benefit to anyone. Moreover, leftist student ideology is quite contrasting to Congress party ideology, and yet they are riding triple-seat on a scooter with AAP-lite version protesters—i.e., the Dikpes of the world. Each of these three actors wants to steer the vehicle in a different direction. How is this even legitimate?

What’s next?

This protest started as a protest against exam paper leaks and then quickly morphed into an anti-Chief Election Commissioner protest, while consistently hiding the fact that it is merely a pawn for some higher actor. The protesters are in search of their next protest, and they want to pass off this hooliganism as a democratic right. It will not work in the long term. Whether their next target is border security or financial transparency laws is immaterial. By manufacturing outrage over flimsy premises, these bad-faith protests do real damage: they cry wolf, eroding public trust when legitimate grievances actually need to be heard.

(No) To Vande Mataram!

One has to wonder if the Congress party is a political party in India or if they follow diktats from some other country! Every time there is a gesture that puts the nation first, or any sort of feeling where Indians are to feel proud of their heritage, history, or even their recent achievements, the party, rather startlingly, opposes such sentiment. How does it serve them? Because it certainly does not serve them politically at the national level.

Take the recent controversy around reciting all stanzas of Vande Mataram. The song has always been sidelined by the Congress party. Making Muslim appeasement the central tenet of governance in 1937, the Congress party decided to sing only the first two stanzas to placate the Muslim League and Jinnah. We all know how that worked out in the end. It has been a race to the bottom since then, to the extent that Dr. Manmohan Singh, a two-time Prime Minister, in his feeble voice, underlined that Muslims have first right over India's resources. Another classic example: the Congress party did not officially celebrate Diwali or Dussehra and never wished the country for two of the biggest festivals in India. However, they officially celebrated all Eids throughout the year.

This appeasement has done immeasurable damage to India, and the extent of Muslim appeasement the Congress party engages in is disturbingly scary. Now, not singing Vande Mataram in its entirety is not the worst crime, but it is an indicator of a sick mindset within the Congress party that aligns better with Pakistan's point of view than with the Indian ethos.

Before I move to the next point—how is the current version of the Congress party the same as the Congress party of independence? Even if we set aside Nehru turning the party into his personal fiefdom and ruling over the masses as if he were the last Viceroy of India, the current Congress party is the party Indira Gandhi established. The party she established was called Congress (I), where the "I" stood for Indira! Then, in 1996, the party decided to drop the "I" (since the Election Commission had ruled in 1981 that Congress (I) was the true Congress party) and decided to leech off the legacy of the independence-era Congress party. So, not only are the lords of the Congress party mooching off the Gandhi last name, but they have hijacked the Congress party of independence. And how are they showing this continuity?

Why No to Vande Mataram?

In their infinite wisdom, the Congress party is claiming that they will abide by the 1937 Congress party resolution. The resolution stated that only first two stanzas of the song will be sung. Why? Because the later stanzas evoke the image of Mother India as Goddess and such imagary will not be liked by Muslims. For any sensible person, the obvious question would be: how can a resolution from pre-independence India still be applicable in 2026?  Forget the fact that the resolution was incorrect in 1937 and that appeasing the Muslim League only emboldened them, leading to further schisms that the British very effectively leveraged to divide the continent into three parts and leave behind a cancerous Islamic terrorist state for India to deal with, Is the Congress Party saying that Muslims in India will rise against the rendetion of Vande Mataram? Is situation of 1937 still applicable in 2026? Or perhaps that is the situation the Congress party wants to recreate in modern India?

When the BJP brought the Vande Mataram topic to Parliament, I thought: why waste time on such things? In 1950, Vande Mataram was granted the same status as the National Anthem, so that should have settled the matter once and for all. But by bringing this topic to Parliament again, the BJP and the Modi government have shed a bright light on the arcane and borderline anti-national thought process of the current Congress party dispensation. And boy, the Congress party responded with such vigor that even their ally—the most pro-Muslim party in India, the National Conference of Kashmir—broke ranks with them.

From the days of Gandhi and Nehru, when they could only think about the sentiments and well-being of Muslims, to the Islamic terror attack in Mumbai in 2008, when the ruling Congress party attempted to paint the attack as Hindu terror, the current Congress party has carried this dubious legacy. Unfortunately, such Hindu-hatred and pro-Muslim policies did not hurt the party electorally for a long time. The BJP, during the Modi era, has finally figured out how to make Congress pay for their sinister thought process. I just hope we see more unraveling of the party so the people of India can see their true intentions.