I’ve started and deleted this post about four times. Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I want to be completely honest. And also because it’s becoming hard to give words to the myriad emotions that are going through me - anger, frustration, fear, admiration, sorrow, and joy - to name a few.
Students in India are protesting a rigged medical entrance exam that upended millions of futures. They’re protesting years of corruption and broken institutions nobody’s been held accountable for. They began to demand the resignation of the Education Minister. Out of this was born the Cockroach Janata Party (named so because the Chief Justice of India called unemployed youth cockroaches!)
If I’m honest, I’ve been very skeptical about the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)and who they are backed by. We’ve seen a big movement like this in 2014 that paved the way for the present right-wing government. Something wasn’t adding up about the soft attitude the government was showing towards the leaders of this supposed ‘anti-government’ movement. I told a friend that while I was all for the cause, the people leading it were suspect.
The CJP leadership announced a march to Parliament on 20 July. The top leaders were missing. But young people took the call seriously and began their march in protest. Police met them with tear gas and batons and unbelievable violence. Nearly 180 people were hurt. Watching this on my phone and hearing the stories of this brutality, shook me deeply.
Staying quiet stopped feeling like an option.
I don’t want to be someone who, years from now, has to admit I watched tear gas fired and physical voilence on students who were protesting peacefully, and said nothing.
What actually moved me is how the students have taken this movement forward despite the questionable leadership. The bravery they showed in the face of brutality and how they shielded and protected each other.
This is what bravery looked like this week.
A young man who moved through the chaos with a backpack full of first-aid supplies, treating people he’d never met. The young woman who stood up to the police and asked why a male cop was touching a young girl. The young journalists who questioned the goons employed by the police. An older woman wailing and asking the police why they had to be so cruel even though they were doing their duty.
Then there were ordinary people deciding that showing up mattered more than staying safe. The autorickshaw drivers giving free rides to the protest site acted independently. The snacks-wallahs giving out free food to strangers. Nobody organized the adults who weren’t anyone’s parents showing up, anyway. Men and women who are constantly clearing the garbage and sweeping the area. People from all over India who are using delivery apps to send food and other essentials to the protest site. Some people (from India and abroad) paying for youngsters to come to the protests and go back home.
There are volunteers on the ground checking about requirements and organizing to buy them. Young influencers using their reach to request for things - slippers for those who lost theirs in the mêlée, feminine products, helmets, hand-fans, etc. (I can hook you up with some lovely folk who are consolidating lists of needs and collecting resources - message me, if you want this information).
This is the bravest and best act of solidarity I’ve seen in India for a long time.
So here’s my small version of showing up. I don’t want to be invisible on the things that actually matter. I don’t want to hold opinions only in private, agree quietly, and never say so out loud. Solidarity doesn’t require standing at the barricades. Sometimes it just means stating clearly which side of this you’re on.
I want my name to stand openly, without hesitation among those who refused to be silent, those who declared, publicly and without fear, that this government is corrupt, unjust, and must be held to account. Silence in the face of wrongdoing is not neutrality. I choose to stand, to speak, and to be counted.
I hear your voice Corinne and I commend you for speaking out and sharing this story. I was not aware of the situation there. What I do know is that as beautiful India is, it is horrifyingly corrupt. And has been for decades. And continues to get worse. It always seems to me that India is a land of extremes, such wealth sits beside absolute poverty, sparklingly clean places sit in the midst of filth, pure hearted beautiful people mixed in with scammers and those who have no care for the human soul. How wonderful and hopeful to hear that the youth are protesting and bringing light to corruption. And others are supporting them in doing so. There is so much I could go on about, but I’ll stop here. Thank you for having your say.