THE REPUBLIC OF PROTEST

From the Jat and Maratha quota agitations to the farmers' rally opposing agri laws, ordinary Indians took to the streets to demand their due or decry injustice

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The more the Hindutva are widened, the deeper the anxiety around identity—of caste, class, community—grew.

And every so often, their fury would burst, demanding justice or a fair share. The Dalit was wooed for his vote, but deep inside India's interiors, his lived reality remained much the same—from the institutional neglect that led to the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad in January 2016 to the public flogging of a Dalit family in Una, Gujarat, the same year. So when the Supreme Court in 2018 passed an order widely seen as diluting the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Dalit anger exploded, forcing the government to reverse the SC ruling.

Pushback to state excess unfolded even on the JNU campus in February 2016, when student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was slapped with sedition charges for his alleged anti-national speech at an event marking the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Faculty, students and staff came together in protest against what they saw as a stifling of dissent.

Delhi: Who is to Blame Mar. 16, 2020