Month-old CAA protests channelise unprecedented anger against the Narendra Modi regime

It is more than a month since the nation was first rocked by protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), to which President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent on December 12, 2019. As of now, there are no portends of agitators either returning home or stopping to turn out in newer places and in more numbers. Whatever the outcome of this phase of opposition to the government move, it marks an inflection point in the political narrative.

In the initial phase of the stir, before the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill became the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, anger against the proposal was confined to the northeast region. The government was clearly unprepared for the extent of opposition, although this was on expected lines – people in Assam had, after all, protested against the 'foreigner' bugbear since the 1970s.

Surprisingly, however, while the stir in Assam and other northeastern states await revival, the protests which began in the Indian Capital on December 15 have not just uncharacteristically continued, but also spread to cities, towns, institutions and social groups not associated with the politics of protests.

The first anti-CAA stir in Delhi, by an estimated 2,500-3,000 strong crowd, was injudiciously dismissed by the regime as a typical 'weekend outing' by the Capital's archetypal 'jholawallahs' or ageing 'urban-Naxals'. For the ruling party, these people wage struggles for 'lost causes' and are a familiar sight with placards on varying issues – women's rights, child protection issues, environment, against neo-liberal economic policies and so on.

Like most such protests, this one too on December 15, was joined by sections of youth. In many ways, the assembled lot at Jantar Mantar, where the government unsuccessfully tried to proscribe protests, rallies and dharnas, chiefly comprised the pre and post 'EMI generation' – meaning students or unemployed youngsters and were yet to commit to monthly repayment, or those who had 'repaid' loans and could take risks while bemoaning the demise of idealism and the Indian dream.

From this eclectic mix of protestors, there arose the next lot of agitators at different locations – students, teachers and the community in the neighbourhood of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. These were marked by violence from the side of protestors and unrestrained brutal police action which was questioned by the surprisingly courageous authorities in Jamia, from the Vice-Chancellor downwards.

Consequential, contentious decision

Soon, protests engulfed several cities and towns but the government remained in the 'comfort zone' for two reasons. First, these agitations were turning violent and provided an opening to BJP leaders to question the damage to public property in protests. Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath went ballistic, swore revenge against agitators and directed officers to issue notices for damage to people accused of leading the anti-CAA protests.

Two, the BJP viewpoint was that since protests were chiefly in universities identified with 'Muslims' and in localities which also have the tag of being 'Muslim ghettos', the fallout would benefit the party. In their calculation, the Muslim character of agitators would enable further social polarisation and consolidation of the party's core support base. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made yet another incendiary statement – identity of protestors would be made out by the "clothes they wear". His claim was buttressed by the fact that the 23 men who succumbed to injuries sustained in police firing, were Muslims.

Previously, the BJP was enticed into pressing the accelerator on CAA after seeing the Opposition displaying little capacity to oppose the government's series of authoritarian and majoritarian moves post re-election. From the dilution of the RTI Act, the tightening the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, criminalisation of instant divorce or triple talaq, to steps on Jammu & Kashmir and the successful handling of the Ayodhya verdict, the government was lulled into complacency by the absence of significant protest.

It was expected that opposition to the CAA would remain either muted or restricted to Muslims. But this proved to be a most consequential as well as contentious decision.

Although the CAA had majorly raised apprehensions among Muslims, other communities too stood in opposition. The Shiromani Akali Dal’s opposition to CAA reflects the apprehensions of the Sikhs to the law. Soon, the agitation spread to numerous educational institutions not normally associated with the politics of protests and were also personal supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shaheen Bagh in Delhi may be located in a Muslim locality, but the place is also being thronged by people from other communities. This form of protest is also being replicated in different cities and towns of the country.

Besides protests against CAA, students, youth, workers and ordinary people have also raised the banner of opposition on myriad issues, be it against fee-hike in JNU or the one-day shutdown called by opposition trade unions on economic issues.

The protests are seeing unprecedented anger against the Modi government. It is doubly difficult for the BJP because the fury is not solely due to CAA. Instead, different sections have their own issue to agitate and are being motivated by them. What unites them is a common target.

Significantly, the Constitution has become the rallying point of protestors. From when previous generations of protestors highlighted shortcomings of the Constitution, today's protesting lot swear by it and argue that it faces immense threat and it is critical to save it. The campaign to publicly read the Preamble to the Constitution has also caught on and has caught Modi on the wrong foot. Had he not termed it as the only Holy Book of the country? With what conviction can this regime dub these agitators who swear by the Constitution as anti-nationals?

The country is also witnessing a wave of spontaneous burst of creativity with songs, poems, artwork on the theme of protest. Similar waves have been witnessed in history globally. The anti-war protests in the US in the late 1960s and early 1970s spawned a generation of song-writers and poets. In India, Naxalbari and anti-Emergency struggle catalysed a burst of creativity.

Modi labelled the protests as handiwork of parties "rejected in elections" but these sit-ins are hardly the handiwork of opposition parties. The prime minister's worry should be if there has been any increase in support for his party from levels achieved in May 2019 or if there have been desertions because of his ideological belligerence.

Although what has been witnessed throughout the country was unimaginable a couple of months, there is no immediate threat to this government. The protests would soon either have to weather another round of repression or face the challenge of sustaining the movement. The absence of a centralising charismatic face is also another hurdle.

But straws in the wind, ranging from multiple protests to allies also becoming more circumspect in supporting CAA and loss of face on international fora, mark a blip in BJP's path to dominance. Coupled with a couple of electoral setbacks in the assembly polls since October and the challenges BJP faces in states like Assam and Tripura where it is in power, it is time for Modi to stop being in denial and remain blind to the pan-Indian struggle. What has worked so far, many not continue doing so.

(Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is a Delhi-based journalist and author. His latest book is RSS: Icons Of The Indian Right. He has also written Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times (2013))

The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.