The Jharkhand student protests are still ongoing; however, a concerning trend since day one has been their comparison to the recently concluded Jantar Mantar protests in Delhi.
The latter, where NEET-UG students were demanding justice for the paper leaks, cancellation of the exam that had taken place in May and accountability from the government, primarily the resignation of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, has probably been one of the biggest protests seen in recent times.
The Jharkhand student protests, where people are calling out the mismanagement and corruption within the JPSC and JSSC examinations, have also picked up steam, with the country supporting their cause.
On paper, both these protests are pretty much the same, with students calling out the government of India, on both a central and state level, demanding accountability and responsibility, significant steps to repair the system, and an end to playing with the youth of the country; however, there are some groups, one especially in particular, that are incredibly vocal in making it a competition between the two protests.
Particularly, it is these groups that are trying to paint the Jharkhand protests as superior to the Jantar Mantar protests.
While the Delhi protesters were branded a “generation gutter” by politicians and hounded for their language, the Ranchi protesters are being held up by many of the same political voices as a model of disciplined, “real” protest.
Why Are Andhbhakts Comparing The Two Protests?
According to reports, a viral video from the Ranchi protest site captured one young protester turning to fellow demonstrators and warning them, “This is not Jantar Mantar, don’t raise azaadi slogans.”
The Jantar Mantar protests have often been accused of having anti-national elements, with people claiming that slogans about getting independence from India were being raised by the crowd, or that some were raising slogans in support of Umar Khalid, among others.
Some right-wingers have also tried to claim that the protesters in Jharkhand have been respectful to the police, while those at Jantar Mantar were abusive and acted violently toward officers who were simply trying to bring order to a chaos-filled protest.
This has been debunked by many people, who have shown the exact reality of what happened during the Delhi protests. Police were seen beating the protesters with lathis, using stones and tear gas; unlawful detention and arrests were also being carried out.
Many revealed how minors were not being released by the time given under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. News also came out that women were being detained and arrested without any female officers present, and some viral clips had shown them being hit in their private parts by some male officers.
Social media users have also been calling out this ‘selective outrage’, saying that it is not really helping in any meaningful way.
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There are also conspiracy theories around the Jantar Mantar protests claiming that they were funded by foreign agencies; some have claimed that Pakistan was funding it, while others have even mentioned any opposition party from Congress to AAP, and a few even said the CIA.
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There have even been comparisons made between the behaviours of the protesters, with some calling out how abusive language was running rampant at the Jantar Mantar; meanwhile, the Jharkhand students have been much more respectful.
This is a reference to the viral clip of a 15-year-old girl using abusive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While abusing anyone should be considered wrong, it was the intense and frankly over-the-top reaction from everyone, whether it be the PM himself or the Delhi Police, celebrities, and so many others, that had people outraged.
People who had been completely silent on the protests themselves were coming out and posting videos about how abusing a politician of the country was not right, with a “Zero” First Information Report (FIR) also being filed by the Noida Police under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for defamation and public mischief.
The police report even misidentified her age, claiming she was 25 years old, while the minor eventually revealed her age in an apology video where she admitted that she was ashamed of the words she used. None of this mattered, though, with many senior leaders and public personalities suddenly bashing the kid and using it as a blanket opinion for all the Jantar Mantar protests.
The extreme reaction from authorities was also called out, since if a case was to be registered against a young kid, then similar cases should have also been filed against all the politicians and public leaders who have used such language in their own public speeches.
Many of them have made crass comments about women, justifying rape and sexual harassment even. The question several raised was where the FIRs against those people were, and why they were not being held accountable.
Several citizens agreed that such crass and abusive language should not be spoken against anyone, and that everyone should be treated with a level of basic respect, regardless of their social status, gender, religion, or age. However, the uneven reaction toward a kid and public leaders had many expressing concern about what the issue at hand really was.
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Read More: From Rebuke To Respect: Indian Gen Z Has Turned The Story Around
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There were also videos being posted praising how the Ranchi protests were getting food donated from a Hindu temple’s langar, whereas the Delhi protests had ‘biryani’.
This was clearly a reference to Mohammad Junaid Malik, a volunteer at the Delhi protests, who went viral for distributing free biryani and essential supplies to the protesters sitting at Jantar Mantar.
The people comparing the two, though, instead of focusing on how secular our country is – that no matter where or what, people of all kinds and religions come together to help others – were showing a very divisive narrative, as if the protest that was getting food from a temple was superior to one getting ‘biryani’.
The truth, though, is that the Delhi protests did not have only biryani being given out to the protesters. Food from all over the country was being sent through Zomato and Swiggy, and then later, once the police had closed the area, volunteers collected food packets and essential supplies, taking all of it themselves to the protest site.
Another reason why these comparisons are being made is because of the government in both places. While Delhi is under BJP rule, with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta in power and the Central Government of India also in charge, Jharkhand, on the other hand, with Chief Minister Hemant Soren, is under an alliance ruling government made up of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
It is assumed that this positioning of the Jharkhand protests as superior is due to the state being under opposition rule, while Delhi is under the ruling government. So, of course, the supporters of the ruling government will hype up the protest that is in any way calling out the opposition party.
No one should ideally be trying to make any comparisons between these two protests, though. Because both show the anguish and frustration of the Indian students, and many severe problem areas in the education and even recruitment sectors that it is high time were paid attention to and reworked if needed.
Instead of trying to pit two political parties against each other, or create an imaginary competition between students, the focus should be on what the people of Jharkhand are protesting for, what their demands and grievances are.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Hindu, India Today, The Indian Express
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
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