How Jantar Mantar rekindled the quest for the nature and content of Swaraj

THERE WERE NO PHOTOGRAPHS of Mahatma Gandhi at the Jantar Mantar protest site, even though the protest had anchored itself in a Gandhian technique: a handful of activists marshalling their physical and moral resources, denying themselves any kind of food. On the other hand,  Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s photographic presence was unmistakable. Various “Ambedkarite” groups lent their energy and voice to the music of resistance that got played out at Jantar Mantar.

The Jantar Mantar agitation was aimed at fixing the responsibility and accountability for a broken and flawed examination system. The demand boiled down to the resignation of the then Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. And once the ‘competent authority’ conceded the demand, the agitation was folded up. But, not the movement. A right to resistance has been reclaimed.

This movement of resistance has to be seen in the context of a decade old authoritarian consolidation of state power—unrelenting and unforgiving.  It needs to be recalled that not long ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had led the onslaught against any kind of democratic dissent; he mocked those who questioned the government’s policies and priorities as “andolanjeevis.” That very public ridiculing – serenaded in certain quarters – was a signal to every law enforcer to deal harshly with any expression of dissent or protest from civil society or aggrieved individuals. The magistrates across the land heard the Prime Minister’s message loud and clear; those who dare to question or challenge the authority would be made to feel the policeman’s truncheon and the judge’s disapproval. The ruling party’s echo-system demanded obedience, compliance and consent in every walk of life. No heresies, no disagreements, no independent thought, no critical opinions, and no arguments. 

The destabilising impact of critical thought

It is in this suffocating context that the Jantar Mantar movement has to be seen as a quintessential Gandhian moment. The young generation was asserting the “swa” over the empowered coercion of the “raj” in search for the ideal swaraj.*

Gandhi placed the highest value on courage and nobility that are basic requirements for any non-violent satyagraha. Courage means absence of fear, a righteous conviction and a noble itch to forgo anger and bitterness towards the oppressor. 

Within a space of two weeks the young protestors at Jantar Mantar had dismantled an authoritarian regime’s fear machine. And it was not that only those who had congregated at Jantar Mantar experienced the joy of liberation; young men and women across India discovered their inner voice and strength to stand up for their rights. Arguably the Mahatma would have not approved of some of the slogans but he would have definitely applauded the young protestors’ sense of certitude. In particular, the Mahatma would have been most pleased with that young woman in Mumbai who stood in front of a police van, displaying extraordinary courage and determination. That iconic image of an unarmed and unintimidated woman blocking the symbol of the state’s most raw coercive power makes a Gandhian postcard. 

Not only the Mahatma, even the good doctor, B. R. Ambedkar would have lustily cheered the Gen-Z crowd because the protesters were doing exactly what he had preached and practiced all his life: questioning the prevailing orthodoxy. In one of his many verbal duels with the Mahatma, he had insightfully noted the destabilizing impact of critical thought: “every act of independent thinking puts some portion of the apparently stable world in peril.”  Ambedkar would be pleased to know how thoroughly the protest has rattled the stable world of the autocrats.  

Admittedly, many outfits, of different ideological persuasions and affiliations, had pitched their tents at Jantar Mantar. It was a bit like the Kumbh Mela with distinct akhadhads, each with its own protocol and liturgy, but each reinforcing the common ethical and spiritual values. Similarly, the Jantar Mantar congregation was animated with democratic ideas and constitutional promise in our continued quest for the nature and content of swaraj.