New Delhi, Dec 30 First time in years the religious minorities especially Muslims are flexing muscles – literally.
“The people are permanent and an elected government is temporary. So it has no right to enact a law that excludes Muslims,” said a Muslim student during Jamia Millia protest.
Another vocal refrain from protestors has been that the Modi government has tried to push the line that Muslims are ‘not patriotic enough’ and they must be taught a lesson through CAA and NRC.
Such an attitude is not acceptable, they screamed.
Now, the virtual challenge to the ‘Moditva phenomenon’ has forced the BJP leadership to go back to the table to redraw it campaign strategy especially on social network.
The fact that the BJP has been put on back foot is proved as no less than Prime Minister himself has been forced to reach out to the ‘restless’ youths and also use the hashtag ‘IndiaSupportsCAA’ on Twitter.
On December 29 Mann-Ki-Baat radio broadcast Prime Minister tried to strike an emotional chord with the generation next and said the country's youth detests “anarchy of any sort”.
Later in the evening hours, Prime Minister in a tweet wrote: “What is certain is that the coming decade will see those born in the 21st century playing a key role in national progress".
BJP working president J P Nadda held several conclaves with party colleagues to workout campaign strategy to bust the myths about Citizenship Amendment Act.
All these have come in a year that almost gave a feeling that the BJP has attained ‘the invincible’ status in Indian politics.
The year 2019 saw BJP's political detractors and stalwarts bite the dust and saffron party winning an enhanced mandate but the youths and religious minorities – however - combined together to throw up a major challenge to the ruling regime.
The new socio-political situation has made ‘cornered’ Congress leaders such as P Chidambaram optimistic and he says: “In less than a fortnight – December 12 to 24 – the nation found its soul and stood up to the bullies”.
India's 2019 general elections, religious minorities and Opposition parties had thought, could have ‘redirected’ the country's politics from the trajectory it had been plunging since 2014.
But the mandate was different.
The Ram temple movement got a favourable push. Anti-Triple Talaq law was enacted and Article 370 giving special provisions to Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated.
Likes of Yogi Adityanath led a campaign that blamed Muslim youths for waging a “love jihad” by seducing Hindu women to convert to Islam.
However, with 'restless' Indian youths now getting onto the streets and Muslims and other minorities showing a unity of purpose - now a question remains whether street protests will alter India that declined to be altered through ballot.
'Moditva' as a political phenomenon and with combined magic of pro-Hindutva tilt and push for development as a catalyst looked invincible.
Empowered by sympathetic support of youths in general and students in universities and of course the opposition parties against the newly enacted CAA, the minorities have able to take the battle into the rival camp – the so called ‘Hindu-nationalist zealotry’.
“For me as a youth and as a tribal from north east, we are against immigrants. But we want a government that will not focus on promoting one religion and work against others,” said a Naga youth Neingulie Sakhrie during anti-CAA noisy protest of December 15 in the capital.
The anguish of youths getting onto the streets have transformed Indian politics more than once in the past.
The JP movement also rested heavily on youth power, so was the anti-Mandal Commission protest during V P Singh’s tenure.
Similarly, the youths played a pivotal role in 2011 Anna Hazare-led Lok Pal movement against corruption – which BJP somehow benefited in 2014.
But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election in 2019 had bolstered fringe factions of his political base.
There was already apprehension about protecting plurality in India. Since 2014, episodes like mob lynching against cattle meat sale and movement against ‘Love Jihad’ made news. But in a historic mandate, Mr Modi and his party were given a second term with more number of Lok Sabha seats to run the world's largest democracy.
Mr Modi also became the first prime minister since 1971 to return to power with an absolute majority.
Things looked too good for BJP till the opposition to the CAA gained momentum.
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