Listen to the Young
During his visit to Seychelles, Modiji is reported to have spent time meeting the oldest living animal, a 194-year-old tortoise. But in India, he has no time to listen to the younger generation, the unemployed young people of his homeland. They are 'parasites' for him, mere cockroaches. Our Prime Minister is one of the few among world leaders who loves to roam abroad (to escape the "messy" India he has created?), trotting the globe on a popularity hunt, visiting the Indian diaspora ... recently in New Zealand. Taxpayers pay crores for his luxury tours.

He had time and energy to go to meet the Gujaratis in America, but not the tribal people in a conflict-ridden Manipur. He was in Tinsukia and Sibsagar more than once those days, but did not step into Manipur. He knew he would be hooted. The only time he visited Manipur since 2023, he made some project announcements and moved out in a hurry. When the margins are discontented, the Centre is hurt!

Indifference is Humiliating
World leaders welcome the Indian Prime Minister because they are interested in the Indian market, not because of the wonders that Modiji works. But the future of this very economy depends on the younger generation that is protesting against him vigorously today. India has 255 million youths between 15-24, the largest demographic in the world. Can they be ignored?

What young people find hard to bear is Modi's arrogance. Kashmiris feel the same, so do the people of Manipur. His initial 'indifference' was absolutely humiliating for the Jantar Mantar protesters. Gradually he had to bend as he did to the farmers; he had no other choice!

Don't Humiliate the Young, Never be Hard on Them Using Force
As the protest began, BJP-RSS loyalists grew eloquent, accusing unemployed young people of being idlers, mere trouble-makers. They described the CJP members as anti-national, urban naxals, anarchists without intelligence and a sense of responsibility. They quoted Franklin Roosevelt, "People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made." They accused Rahul of sponsoring anarchy. The authorities ordered the Rapid Action Force into the field. Pellet guns and lethal weapons were used against young students. One boy lost his eyesight. Electronic batons were used. Lathis embedded with nails went into action.

Even amidst the dispute about the use of pellet guns, the CRPF chief instructed his troops, "Perform your duties fearlessly." Similar messages had been heard in Manipur when some national-level police authorities visited his men: "We have sent you ammunition to be used, not to be kept safe!" That is India today. While the Supreme Court cautions about the use of bulldozers, bulldozers remain in full action. Houses come down! Ammunition is used till the stock is over. People lose their lives.

Response to the Use of Force
Rahul asks for the removal of Amit Shah for offering to the Parliament a "bundle of lies," denying the use of pellet guns. No one is surprised at Amit Shah's performance. When he makes a statement, we know that the opposite is true. He promised a Maoist-free India by March 31 this year. How many Maoists have been arrested since that date? How many are still on the move? He promised a flood-free Assam if the BJP is elected!! Where is he when 364 villages have just been washed away in the recent floods? Mallikarjun Kharge seriously questions Amit Shah on this issue?

Concerning the use of violence against students, the Opposition holds that the Prime Minister is equally responsible. He must apologise for the paper leak and for the harshness inflicted on young students. Akhilesh Yadav adds that the robbers of the Ayodhya temple are the ones who allowed the paper leak. Evidently, he is holding the BJP-RSS responsible. Abhijeet Dipke, the leader of the CJP, insists that whether Amit Shah is involved or not, action should be taken if pellet guns were used. Trust in the competitive exams should be restored. FIRs must be withdrawn.

Citizens Helpless, Opponents Crushed
However, when the concern about the use of pellet guns was taken to the Supreme Court, the response was evasive. The Court held that the use of pellet guns can be a part of "graded police response." So now, the affected people are in distress. Citizens seem helpless.

But some prominent people put the issue against the wider reality in the country today. Ujjal Bhuyan, a Supreme Court judge, says public space for dissent is shrinking in India. He takes the example of taking chicken biriyani on the Ganga. How can it be an offence? People are different, tastes are different. It is the BJP that makes offences multiply: omitting parts of Vande Mataram, taking certain kinds of food near a temple, selling certain kinds of drinks near a holy place, choosing independently one's food, drink, clothes or religion.

Rahul explains the BJP-RSS strategy in this way. They offer generous bribes for defection to talented Opposition leaders. Omar Abdullah of Kashmir says the BJP is offering 20-30 crores to MLAs to shift loyalty to their party. Do they want to set Kashmir on fire, he wonders! Are they taking our patience as weakness, he asks.

If they refuse bribes, the Enforcement Department comes into action. Raids begin for one allegation or another. Mamata's house was raided, Pinarayi's, Kejriwal's. Then legal battles begin without end. Any number of cases are filed against the resistant individual. If he yields and changes the party, all his crimes are washed away as though by magic. If he resists, jail without bail! Sonam Wangchuk was enfeebled in jail; Fr. Stan Swamy lost his life. And no apology to those not found guilty; no compensation. Is that not hegemonistic? How does the BJP-RSS ruling style differ from the Nazis?

The Art of Democracy is About Handling Differences
And don't forget, defectors betray those who voted for them. They damage democracy. Democracy welcomes diversity; it welcomes dissent. For all his limitations, Trump gives press conferences; he gives his critics a chance. He said recently, "We settle differences through debates, not through bullets." Albert Camus is quoted as having said, "Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken." Yes, Modi had to bend. He had to; there was no choice. Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. Dharmendra himself had protested against paper leaks as a student in 1996.

The young people's worry is not about Dharmendra. Can the prevailing partisan, one-sided system also be made to resign? What has to be taken note of is not merely the fact of paper leaks; what has to be verified is whether there is a "method" in it ... for example, privileging a section of society. In any case, "the inspired idealism of the young" clashed with the brutality of the 'double-engine' BJP Government. Even the 'unshakable Modi' had to yield when CJP shook India. The great tactician showered praises on them, and kept making endless promises. But the nails embedded in the baton are still to reveal themselves. How is he planning to make young people trip over?

Many Uncertainties Remain
All who oppose the Modi regime have jumped into the CJP wagon to draw some advantage for their cause. As the BJP used Anna Hazare and Kejriwal to undermine Manmohan's image, everyone wants to join the game of exposing the BJP for their own advantage. The BJP leaders want to avoid any strategic mistakes. They know that these are the children of those who brought the BJP to power in the Hindi belt. They cannot be neglected. The protest is from the middle class and lower middle class who allege that they do not get back for what they pay, including public services.

When Truth is told, there is always attention. The BJP feels that the CJP needs to be flattered before they are splintered and defamed, and finally shattered. But, fortunately, the Hindutva brigade has been awakened to their own vulnerability, if not yet to their mortality.

CJP has Done the Nation a Great Service
The CJP has done the nation one great service: they have diverted national attention away from petty religious issues to major social grievances. Politics is about people's worries, not temple-building, melas and yathras. Saurav Das of the CJP says there are 750-800 parties in India. None has responded to youth aspirations.

In any case, many uncertainties still remain. Are the protesters concerned only about the recent paper leak or about the varied anxieties of India as well? Are they worried about themselves and their aspirations alone or also about other aggrieved groups like Dalits, tribals, Minorities ... their reservations, for example? Or when the present problem is settled, will they return to their individual community (caste, ethnic group) and its privileges, and forget about others in anxiety? We hope that CJP will emerge as a constructive force in the present national scenario.

At no stage has the BJP shown its readiness to soften its Hindutva agenda, despite student protests, the Ayodhya mandir financial scandal, tribal resistance to Vande Mataram, the FCRA revision, and the sale of tribal land to companies. They intend to go ahead with the delimitation bill, continue calling the tribals 'vanvasis,' and widen the scope of 'Freedom of Religion Acts.' There is little progress in respecting the cultural diversity of India, little understanding of marginal groups like those in Ladakh, Manipur or Mizoram. Cow vigilantes rule the streets and hasty passing of bills has become the tradition in the Parliament.

'The Cow Is not Divine,' VD Savarkar
Priyanka Vadra is blamed for calling V. Kamakoti, Madras IIT Director, a Gau Mutra expert. Why allege that Priyanka is humiliating Kamakoti when he himself was proud to be such an expert? That was the period when one got greater acceptability among the BJP-RSS Think Tank if one quoted from Ramayana and Mahabharata or showed one's fervent devotion to cows. States were competing among themselves to set up departments to attend to the supreme comfort of the bovine breed. In reality, many cows were neglected in cow shelters, many meeting with an early death.

Ministers celebrated their children's weddings near Gaushalas. Leaders were extremely proud of their cow-related achievements when the entire world was laughing at a giant nation that had ambition to be a superpower. The claim was that the cow would solve every national problem! Modi took 200 cows to Rwanda as a rare gift. A report reads, Modi government allotted 98 crores on "cowpathy" research in 2020. If this is true, why blame Priyanka for giving Kamakoti his well-deserved title?

If, on the contrary, cow devotion is a humiliating craze, admit that to your fellow cow-devotees. Savarkar was the first to insist: cow is a useful animal. Look after her. But she is not your mother; she is not a goddess. These are words from a 'Father figure' for the Hindutva loyalists.

The Weak Suffer
Modiji is praised for his economic achievement. But nothing is said about how it is built on the foundation that Congress had laid. Modiji's specific contribution has been to make the rich richer, and a select few rich beyond measure. His Government is thinking of lifting every restriction on airport ownership. The nation is being sold to a few billionaires; Gujaratis grab all contracts in BJP-led states. They are buying up tea gardens in Assam. In a brief while we shall all be at the mercy of a handful of money-makers.

The number of billionaires in the country has increased 4-fold in 5 years. About 576 business magnates have more than 100 crore. Himanta Biswa Sarma praises Marwaris and Hindi-speaking people in Assam. The Governor of Nagaland exalts Rajasthanis. There seems to be a general surrender to the financially powerful.

As the rich grow richer, the poor grow poorer. There is a studied strategy to make sure that this trend will strengthen: spend less on education of the lower classes, spend more on the education for the upper classes. In a short time, there will be enough people to work in brick kilns and coal mines ... and exports will go up. Owners of factories and coal mines will earn from such benefits and dictate to the Government their priorities.

Akhilesh Yadav worries that UP has closed 26,000 schools to weaken the education of the weaker classes. Ranoj Pegu, Education Minister of Assam, reports that the State has given up 8,591 schools in ten years. In the meantime, enrolment in Government schools has fallen by 7 lakhs. The State has 3 thousand single-teacher schools, 8 thousand 2-teacher schools ... many of these schools without electricity.

We Hope
We hope that the CJP movement urges our leaders to redesign the country's future. Every Message of Truth communicates something significant. EB White says, "As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing left to us, in a bad time." We hope for the best.