This past weekend, thousands of anti-government protesters were arrested in New Delhi during demonstrations against the Indian government. Authorities have not disclosed the exact number of arrests, but they released the leaders of the protest movement, known as the Cockroach Janta Party, on Sunday. The government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.), has faced ongoing unrest, with significant demonstrations from young Indians demanding reforms to the education system, which led to the resignation of the Minister of Education in July.
The recent protests have focused on the government's decision to remove over a hundred million people from voter rolls. The government claims this action aims to eliminate discrepancies and duplicates, but critics argue it raises concerns about electoral integrity. Yogendra Yadav, an activist and political scientist, discussed the protests and their implications in a recent conversation.
Yadav noted that the current protests are different from previous ones due to the involvement of youth who are not affiliated with any specific organization or ideology. Past protests were often sectoral, involving specific groups like minorities or farmers. However, the current movement is cross-sectional, attracting a diverse range of participants, including those from families that have historically supported the B.J.P.
Yadav emphasized that while the protests include middle-class and upper-caste youth, they are not dominated by these groups. He pointed out that one of the key leaders of the protests, Abhijeet Dipke, is a Dalit, which has encouraged participation from the Dalit community. The protests reflect a broader dissatisfaction with issues such as education, employment, and general livelihood concerns.
The voter roll issue, specifically the special intensive revision (S.I.R.), has become a focal point for the protests. Yadav described the S.I.R. as one of the largest exercises of disenfranchisement in history, noting that the process has shifted the burden of voter registration onto individuals for the first time in India. Previously, voter registration was state-initiated, but under the S.I.R., individuals are required to submit their registration forms, leading to potential disenfranchisement, particularly among the poor and undocumented.
The estimated number of people removed from the voter rolls is around 130 million, with expectations that this number may decrease as the process continues. The adult population of India is estimated at 1.03 billion, and the number of voters is projected to drop significantly as a result of the S.I.R. exercise.
Yadav explained that the disenfranchisement is not solely politically motivated but also structural, as the new registration requirements disproportionately affect the less privileged sections of society. He noted that women and marginalized communities are particularly vulnerable to being removed from the voter rolls. Additionally, there have been targeted deletions of Muslim voters in certain states, which Yadav attributes to the B.J.P.'s strategy to reduce the political power of Muslims.
The conversation highlighted the ongoing tensions in India regarding electoral integrity and the implications of government policies on democracy.