When "Cockroach" Youth Capture Imagination and Win Hearts: Can They Infuse Credibility and Efficacy in Institutions?

I was planning to write the second part of my series on Judiciary which I had commenced posting last weekend. But it is impossible not to reflect upon the agitation by youth under the banner of “Cockroach Janata Party”. It has captured the imagination of the nation and has clearly brought the Government under pressure, despite initial arrogance of the state and its troll army to defame and degrade the young protestors and their face – Sonam wangchuk- through a sinister narrative war. Ironically, the nomenclature “Cockroach” of this new group of youth was triggered by a highly disdainful and dismissive remark towards entire youth of the country by no one less than the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India himself.

While every Indian institution has been under attack or appears badly subverted, nothing can be more painful, generating an ambience of hopelessness and despair than subversion of judiciary from no less than the highest incumbents within its own ranks who have shown little respect to ideals of rule of rule or concern for this country and its people. Free press and free media have always been the biggest guarantors of human freedom, dignigty and security. These have acted as the biggest bulwark against atrocities by criminalised gangs or even isolated thugs who can capture sections of state machineries to run a parallel system to pursue a private agenda in the name of state. But both free press and free judiciary in India appear in ICU amidst serious perversion and subversion of our entire political space, where nearly all political parties are caught in a trap of opaque funding, unavoidable corruption, deliberate subversion of state institutions besides nepotism and cronyism of the worst kind. This is not a new phenomenon. But probably its intensity has never been felt as high as today over the last five decades or so.

Even though the primary focus of the student protest is restricted to grievances over NEET paper leak, the mass outrage reflects a larger a pent-up frustration over poor governance and failed promises. Face of the agitation, Sonam Wangchuk, an educationist and innovator from the frontier region of Ladakh, was able to inspire the youth across the nation, in what appeared an inherent manifestation of psychological, emotional and cultural cohesion of the world's largest democracy with the longest and oldest humanist roots.

A Government that has appeared consistently brutal, arrogant, oppressive and vindictive towards every citizen who has been even remotely critical of its actions or orientation, and particularly targeted apolitical ethical civil servants and contributors to security and progress of the nation, initially responded with war-like bellicosity towards unarmed protestors. Police Commissioner of Delhi was abruptly shunted out on the noon of July 17 and within hours of taking charge, the new police Commissioner ordered a brutal crackdown on protestors. Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly shifted to a Govt hospital in the early morning of July 18 and scores of unarmed protestors were assaulted. Many young people were seen standing calmly and bleeding and yet armed cops were violently assaulting them with batons, even without provocation. Many Delhi police personnel or suspected thugs from the ruling party were seen in civil dress and slippers assaulting protestors. Young women were also not spared. Male cops were seen slapping and assaulting female protestors and, as per a viral video on social media, one male cop was seen trying to poke a stick into private parts of a fleeing female protestor.

Though Government appears to have temporarily climbed down from high mountains of arrogance to talk to the protestors, but its focus remains restricted to deflecting the present crisis rather than mending the flaws that led to the crisis or initiating remedial measures to bolster governance and institutions. Some heads have rolled but the Government has been adamant upon protecting the Education Minister, who, according to most impartial and apolitical observers,  should have taken responsibility and quit. 

It is doubtful that any larger change in the agenda of this Government, or entire established political class, is possible. Earlier, for a long time, the protesting youth were dubbed as proxies of global deep state and external enemies of India. Even Mr Wangchuk had been incarcerated for months, on charges of treason over his alleged anti-national statement. Recent videos surfacing on social media suggest that overjealous cops had manipulated and edited part of the video where Wangchuk was seen quoting a frustrated statement by someone else on apathy of the Govt, to attribute those very words to him. Wangchuk had got out from prison only after a prolonged ordeal.

Simultaneously, as it happens with most spontaneous mass agitations by relatively naïve or political greenhorns, several negative elements also appeared to have crept in to the ranks of young and apolitical protestors. These include apparent Islamist zealots, seeking to Islamize whole of India, shouting provocative radical/sectarian slogans alongside suspected criminals and thugs assaulting cops and journalists or using foul language, breaching the decency of a peaceful movement, as well as individuals perennially identified as anti-nationals with suspected links with hostile external forces. This is inevitable when a large protest takes place as all and sundry with an agenda against the establishment come together. But the credibility of the ruling dispensation appears so low that many apolitical observers have expressed apprehension that the Govt itself may have infiltrated some of these criminals to defame and discredit the protestors.

Amidst these developments, almost entire political opposition of India has latched on this opportunity and tried to hijack this agitation for their own partisan gains. However, except for condemning the Government, for which there are enough justifications, there is hardly anything substantive or remedial vision that they have expressed. Their solidarity with the youth is admirable.  But most are forgetting that something like paper a leak in an examination, or any crisis of this nature or a brutal state response, is manifestation of a larger dysfunctional systems, where corruption, dishonesty and disdain toward masses have become a way of life for most with slightest access to power and authority.

Systems have been rendered helpless in face of this menace as most offenders enjoy political or criminal patronage, who cannot be prevented and deterred by the routine functioning of Indian state. If few spirited incumbents in civil service or police or judiciary attempt to stop such criminals or stand by with people or long-term interests of the nation, they face vehement all-round attack. These vary from narrative warfare to public defamation by a pliable media to economic strangulation to physical intimidation and assault to targeting through a variety of clandestine and criminal ways where political class is on same page and judiciary more often acts as passive approver, if not active collaborator. This is indeed a dangerous situation for long-term sanctity of our institutions as well as our progressive evolution as a state and society. 

There is always space for VVIPs and they can get certain things done. Ironically, even the highest functionaries of the state may appear the biggest patrons of only a subverted system. Hence, wherever stakes are high for the VVIPs or controllers or the patrons of even substantially subverted systems, smaller subversive elements are deferential towards their patrons for sake of their own survival. Hence, there is a strong possibility that some of the paper leak offenders may get punished in this case but there is no guarantee that this will not happen again or India's educational woes shall get any better. 

Latest media reports suggest that initial suspected kingpins in NEET paper leak have been given clean chit by CBI. Going by my familiarity with the culture of loyalty among a section of cops and judiciary towards rulers - from Mughal, British and Congress to the current era- I am convinced that they shall pick anyone and brand that person guilty and legally punish them also to protect the sanctity of the promise of the Govt.

But such isolated punishment is insufficient to prevent further leaks. Besides, this is not the only challenge facing the education system or our youth our youth.  India needs a comprehensive and total re-think on agenda and strategy of governance to put the people at the centre. A decade back, the country had witnessed massive agitation over Nirbhaya assault case. Yet that did not stop such brutal and heinous assaults in the country and society. Many powerful members from ruling and even non-ruling political parties, among others, have faced similar charges. 

Unless state attempts to address the underlying causes of a crisis, which is a fundamentally flawed political-governance-bureaucratic-judicial and social-economic order, such larger sufferings and injustice, and worse shall remain inevitabilities.

Leader of Opposition of the country, also tried to hijack this agitation for his own agenda of change in the Government or replace the Prime Minister. Of course, it is his right to act in this direction and nurture such aspiration. But any change in Government without any serious and credible vision or blue-print for improvement in the governance apparatus does not inspire confidence.  He claimed that all security personnel, even while dragging him during a brief sit in at Prime Minister’s residence, whispered in his ears to topple the incumbent Government.

 Many critiques of the Government have perennially described him as the biggest source of strength of the present Government along with his sibling whose spouse had once been touted as the biggest symbol of nepotistic and crony corruption. Many believe that, despite a fairly formidable army of volunteers of this party, the Government itself might have invited him to join the agitation to take the sting out of the student agitation. At least a section of Indians still dread the return of Vadranomics despite all extra ordinary personal qualities of the Leader of Opposition, whose grace, decency and civility remain unparalleled in Indian politics. But a large country like India needs statesman-like vision, integrity and courage at this juncture of history to reconstruct and re-build more powerful institution that history has ever seen. Sadly, the entire Indian political space badly lacks such idea or individuals with such vision, credibility and acceptability.

The biggest challenge that India faces at this juncture of history is sub-optimal, deficient and poor governance. Assault on integrity and efficacy of key state institutions is not restricted to any particular political party. The way political systems and political parties have evolved in this country, these pose the biggest threat to integrity and efficacy of institutions, and thus act, despite all their positive contributions, as the biggest contributor to every governance failure and humanitarian crisis emanating from deficient and poor institutions. In fact, political class can do very little to address most governance failures attempt a strategic relief, unless there is serious transformation in the entire political process in our democracy. 

In our existing political ecosystem, the very survival and success in political space is directly proportional to the ability of the concerned politicians to clandestinely subvert integrity of governance institutions. I believe no individual should be blamed. There is a serious internal contradiction, which is again influenced by larger external factors.

Hence, dangerous self-seeking cartels have emerged in corporate, judicial, bureaucratic, police, media and other spheres of our state and society. These have been sharing a symbiotic equation of incumbents in power for their mutual gains in a system, where masses or individuals with integrity are being increasingly marginalised. This arrangement may facilitate private enrichment and collective empowerment of few but the cost is serious dis-empowerment of society and nation. Because integrity and efficacy of systems are simply not sustainable in such a societal ecosystem.

Irrespective of what happens from here, I can only say that this is an opportunity for bigger reforms in our entire governance system. Probably, many segments of state and society shall be more amenable to larger changes at this juncture of history if this youth protest is able to sustain itself for some more time. Such opportunities are rare in life of a state and society. 

Government of the day must not hesitate in sacrificing few of its associates in politics, bureaucracy and media. It can also be an opportunity to both co-opt and yet silence political opposition by making bolder concessions to the people. But ultimate objective of stateman like ruthlessness has to be larger good of the nation and a civilisation. No individual is more important than stability of the systems and credibility of the Government. No Govt appears weak by being amenable to popular sentiments. 

I have always maintained that the gravest threat to a large state seldom emanates from invading armies. It is more often the silent and unnoticed capture of state institutions by self-seeking cartels for their own private gains. Such a phenomenon gradually erodes not only the credibility of state but retards the quality of progress and evolution of entire state and society. 

Such dynamics, if unchecked and unremedied, can lead to situation where the very capacity of state to protect and uphold its most critical interests- including its long-term stability and security, as well life, liberty and dignity of its citizens- can be paralysed.  This is what has perennially defined the decay, degeneration and downfall of big powers and empires.

Institutional capture is a reality in India. Larger wellbeing of the people and the nation require infusion of credibility and efficacy in all our institutions. Political and administrative class of the nation need to devise least painful and yet effective ways to bolster capacity of our institutions. That alone can prevent, preempt and deter humanitarian and man- made crises in all domains of governance.