Delhi protests: Why India's new legislation is a landmark move

The protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar saw a mix of the familiar and the new, and their aftermath continues to be debated. It is worth sifting through both the political fallout and the new legislation aimed at curbing question paper leaks.

One notable feature was that the protests were initially driven by a genuine sense of grievance among students. This contrasted sharply with some recent agitations. The protests against the CAA, for instance, rested on a blatant misrepresentation that it would affect the citizenship of Indian Muslims. Similarly, the agitation against the farm laws was engineered by cynical opposition parties that had themselves promised similar reforms in their election manifestos.

Another striking aspect was the shockingly abusive language used by some young adults and adolescents. The prime minister advocated empathy, a soft response and mentoring for these foul-mouthed juveniles, many of whom have since expressed regret and apologised. But, large sections of society, including many of their own parents, are horrified.

The protests also followed a familiar pattern in two important respects. First, what began as a student-led movement was taken over by the usual mix of radical far-left activists, Kashmiri separatists and assorted gangs of anarchists. Second, the movement shifted from weeks of peaceful protests to days of violence and arson against the state, damaging public property, attempting to storm Parliament, and injuring nearly 250 police personnel. The rowdies succeeded to the extent that they provoked the inevitable police crackdown, involving lathi-charge and tear gas, to maintain law and order.

Then, there was the deja vu of exposes, once again showcasing social media “toolkits” designed to hijack and scale up such protests, aiming ultimately at regime change. These have demonstrable roots far beyond the protesting students, across international borders, but with a history in India’s neighbourhood and beyond. To its credit, the government showed maturity in continually maintaining channels of communication with some of the prominent faces of the original protests, and successfully working out a resolution to the face-off.

Despite the resignation of a senior Union minister, the political fallout is decidedly mixed, especially now that the shoe is on the other foot, with similar protests erupting in states governed by opposition parties. The fact is that such leaks have been a long running scourge in India, prevalent across the length and breadth of the country, irrespective of who has been in government. A handful of corrupt officials, driven by highly lucrative incentives, have undermined every attempt to root this out over decades.

The tough new legislation passed by Parliament, with stringent penalties for leaks, marked the first occasion in the current monsoon session when the opposition deigned to participate in debate instead of its usual non-stop disruption. The newly established high-powered committee under Nandan Nilekani has also sent the right signals, given his stature and track record in designing and implementing major structural changes in governance and service delivery.

This issue will undoubtedly continue to be widely discussed. Yet, it is clear that the majority of voters, while sympathetic to peaceful protests by genuine students, have discerned, and are repelled, by the attempts to steer them into violence with altogether different objectives.

And while there will always be naysayers, the vast majority of the public is keeping its fingers crossed that the Nilekani committee and the new law will, at long last, help to end the scourge of exam paper leaks.

Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is National Vice President of the BJP and is an MP in the Lok Sabha.