i'm exhausted of having to explain that the protest was non-violent. students were beaten. minors were beaten. some to death. at this point, even if it was violent, that just means india's youth is suffering so badly, they're reacting like this. that alone should demand a conversation.
and yet. no message from the government. no accountability. nothing.
i'm tired of telling people "they're just asking for education reform, dharmendra pradhan's resignation." so what if other political things are happening alongside it? this whole thing is political. protests are always political. after watching students get beaten in the streets, of course they started talking about the broader system. of course they did. that's what happens when you so brutally squash their legitimate questions down.
and when a cbse exam student's answer sheet comes back with blurred photos, wrong marking, scores that make no sense, and they speak up about it, the poor student get called pakistani. a terrorist. anti-national. slap a label on anyone who asks questions. the caa protesters were "muslim unrest." the farmers were "khalistanis." student protesters are "urban naxals." it doesn't matter who you are or what you're asking for, if you're inconvenient, you get a label and you get dismissed. no one is safe from this. not you either.
this government doesn't listen. not to students. not to trans people fighting a bill that strips them of their identity. not to sonam wangchuk, who went 20 days without eating, until delhi police hospitalized him against his will. not to manipur, which has been bleeding since 2023. not to the farmers, who keep coming back because they were never actually heard the first time. not to the west bengal teachers who lost 26,000 jobs overnight. not to the ladakh statehood movement that's been going since 2021. not to the adivasis who were dispalced with no housing and no proper remuneration. no one.
and they don't care about hindus (their main votebank if you will) either, by the way. they made ram a campaign prop, did a rally with hanuman dancing infront of their vehicle, and meanwhile the ram mandir donation fund was being embezzled, cctv caught it happening on 70 separate occasions in 39 days. currently under sit investigation.
these are not people protecting your faith. they're using it.
one day they'll come for something you care about. and there'll be no one left to speak up, because everyone was too busy arguing about whether they personally "support" the movement. too political. too messy.
if you don't support a party, no one's telling you to support them. but that conversation derails the actual movement.
don't lose the plot. fight fascism. fight authoritarianism.