India currently is the third worst-hit country globally in terms of the total number of COVID-19 cases which is still on the increasing trend. The country had imposed one of the toughest lockdowns across the world to counter the threat of Corona in the initial phase itself. Apart from the economic activities, the lockdown has impacted the education sector in a big way.
All the education institutions from pre-nursery schools to the professional colleges and universities were closed down in the month of March 2020 itself. These institutions are still closed for the physical presence of students and the classes are happening only through online modes which doesn't require students to venture out from their homes.
The schools and colleges cancelled the pending examinations of last academic year and gave general promotion to the students for the next class. Many examinations for admissions to various college programs in the country were also done away while some are still on.
Two of the biggest national level entrance exams, the NEET and the JEE, which have been postponed multiple times in the light of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases are now in the spotlight. This is due to the fact that the Ministry of Education recently stated that both the JEE and the NEET will be held in the upcoming month of September. The NTA has issued public notices citing that the JEE (Main) April 2020 is scheduled from September 1-6, while NEET-UG 2020 exam is scheduled for September 13.
The Supreme Court had responded to a plea filed on 17th August seeking postponement of the exams, while dismissing it, that the precious year of students “cannot be wasted”. The plea that had been filed through advocate Alakh Alok Shrivastava via 11 students from different states sought the quashing of the notices issued on July 3rd by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which set the dates for JEE and NEET in September next month.
The Medical Council of India (MCI) in response to the plea has submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court stating that further postponement of the NEET would be a “drastic deviation” from the academic schedule which “may affect the subsequent academic years” of the students. It also ruled out the possibility of conducting NEET online owing to the “paper book format” of the exam. It further stated that conducting the exam at the same time everywhere is imperative and hence it cannot be organized in countries like Qatar and UAE which attract significant applicants.
With the centre looking adamant to organize the exams, student organizations like the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Indian National Congress, and the All India Student’ Association, student wing of the CPI(ML) have come together to protest against the decision. Both the outfits demanded cancellation of all first and second-year exams and giving promotion to the students, holding final year exams in a way such that students across the country can write them, and most importantly postponement of both the NEET and the JEE.
Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister of Human Resource Development, India | Source: IndiaTVNews
An argument in favour of conducting the exams as given by Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was that the majority of the aspirants had already downloaded their admit cards for the exams. However, it is quite easy to see that students do not have a choice. One can argue that if we put ourselves in the applicant’s shoes, even we would do the same and download the admit cards. This by no means is an indication that students are willing to appear in the exams.
My personal experience in appearing for the JEE and AMU-EEE back in 2017 and 2018 is more than enough for convincing me in favour of postponing the exams. For JEE alone nearly 15 lakh students appear annually. The examination centres are usually overcrowded both before the beginning and after the culmination of the exam and it is nearly impossible to maintain social distancing. Also, the students are normally accompanied by parents or guardians which further adds up to the crowd. Further due to the large number of applicants it will be impossible to maintain distance in the examination halls unless and until the number of examination centres is increased tremendously. Due to various financial and logistical reasons, this will be an uphill task to accomplish.
Students across the country have reacted strongly to the decision of the Court on social media. Most of them are worried about contacting COVID which will put their own as well as the family members’ at risk. Manish Chaubey, one of the 11 petitioners in SC, said, “My hometown is in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and I am in Mumbai at present. It will be a hassle and immensely risky to travel now. Why should I have to put my parents through this?". While some pointed out the irony of the SC using a virtual mode to conduct hearings for making students appear in the exams, others chose to blame the BJP for being inhuman in forcing students into crowded examination centres.
In an open letter to the HRD ministry and education minister Dr Harshvardhan, MadhuPurnima Kishwar, founder of human rights organization, MANUSHI, sought to address the countless appeals regarding various issues and concerns of applicants nationwide received by her. Most of the appeals revolved around safety concerns and fear of contracting the coronavirus disease and thus jeopardizing the safety of family members.
In the letter, she pointed out how the recently organized KCET and B.Ed exam in UP were a clear indication of how it would be nearly impossible to implement the distancing and safety guidelines in the overcrowded examination centres. The overwhelming shortage of examination centres in the light of distancing norms was also mentioned in the letter. She also stated how many IIT and AIIMS directors were of the opinion that the exams could be conducted in November without significant academic loss.
Another very important fact mentioned in the letter was regarding the applicants from countries like the UAE and Qatar. Due to the mandatory 14-day quarantine period for anyone arriving in the country from overseas, it will be very tricky for these applicants and their parents to travel under the current scenario. Parents of nearly 4000 applicants in these countries abroad had filed a plea for either postponing the exams or conducting them abroad. However, the NTA, after consulting with the MCI, ruled that conducting the exams overseas is not a viable option which means that all these candidates will be left stranded. Even if they manage to fly to India for appearing in the exams, they will then be subject to various guidelines issued by their parent countries abroad.
Multiple politicians also voiced similar concerns regarding the decision. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged the government to consider the concerns of the students appearing for the entrance examinations. Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party leader and the deputy CM of Delhi also echoed similar thoughts. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday came up with 13 points concerning logistical issues as well as safety concerns in the argument for the need of postponing the exams.
Another very strong argument in favour of postponing the exams was the lack of public transport services due to lockdown in many districts and states of the country. While those who had arrangements for private vehicles would not face any issue, the others would be left stranded in the absence of the various means of public transports. Lastly, many states are still under various degrees of lockdown as the overall situation of the country is still not very great in terms of daily coronavirus cases. This would also make movement for those applicants with examination centres away from their native places very difficult.
The debate surrounding the NEET and JEE exams has become quite a heated issue around the country. With so many applicants and their parents asking for the postponement of the exams due to various safety concerns, it remains to be seen if the government would still go ahead in organizing these exams as planned.
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CAA-NRC-Inspired Protests in India - A Brief Explainer of Who Protested and Why
The protests against the CAA-NRC legislation that India has witnessed ever since its implementation under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been unique in multiple aspects. For starters, these protests have been dubbed as the “second freedom struggle” of India. The mass protests that India has witnessed have also been unique in the fact that they are the largest opposition the ruling BJP has encountered ever since it came to power in 2014 riding on the back of a very comfortable and strong majority. But perhaps, the most salient feature of the CAA-NRC inspired protests is the fact that it has caught the political establishment off-guard.
While India is no stranger to the concept of mass public protests, the magnitude and intensity of the anti CAA-NRC protests has been massive. While the reasons might vary based on the region, the protests at their very core have been aimed at getting the highly contentious CAA-NRC legislation scrapped. While in the North-Eastern states like Assam people have been protesting to safeguard their cultural and demographic uniqueness, in the rest of the states the protesters have justified their stance by citing that the law is unconstitutional in employing religion to grant citizenship. While these protests may not be very well coordinated, they have revolved around a strong anti-government stand against the CAA-NRC legislation. These protests have yet again shown that while people might have voted the BJP to power, not all of them agree with their extremist Hindutva ideologies.
The government’s attempts to curb these protests by draconian measures like internet shutdowns, imposing section 144 to prevent people from banding together, and rounding up political activists has been met with fierce resistance by the protesters. Across the nation people have defied bans on public gatherings and fought back against the government’s efforts to prevent and dismantle the protests. The message has been clear. Try as much as they may, the government shall not be allowed to dismantle the secular fabric of the nation with their attempts at glorifying Hindu nationalism to promote the ultimate goal of a Hindu nation.
The CAA-NRC legislation has sparked a much stronger reaction as compared to other projects that the BJP government has aggressively pushed for under their extremist Hindutva policy. Hence, while the revocation of Article 370, criminalisation of triple talaq and the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute may not have inspired a very strong reaction against the BJP, the CAA-NRC legislation has brought together scores of people from across the nation together against the quite evident attempt at dividing the Indian society on the basis of religion. This by far might be the most concerted attempt by the BJP to push their Hindu nationalist agenda forward and has inspired an equally strong resistance from the people.
That the BJP-led political establishment had not anticipated such widespread resistance to the CAA-NRC legislation is evident from the fact that they have been completely taken aback from the response of the people. This was evident from the fact that while the Home Minister Amit Shah echoed plans for a nationwide NRC, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, denied any concrete plans for a nationwide NRC in a rally!
The political leaders form the BJP have admitted that they did not expect such widespread protests against the CAA-NRC legislation. “I really did not see the protests coming,” Sanjeev Balyan, a ruling party legislator and junior federal minister, told Reuters. The protests have forced the otherwise dominant BJP government to fall back to its allies and opponents earlier side lined when the legislation was passed, in order to dissolve this apparent crisis.
While the BJP, on expected lines has tried to communalize the protests by terming them too Muslim, the common perception surrounding the protests has not been a movement by the Muslims but rather Indians. Granted that the Muslims might have been in the lead given the fact that they are the ones most threatened by the CAA-NRC legislation. However, the protests have been anything but majority Muslim.
While the BJP led government and its staunch supporters maintain that the protesters are confused regarding the CAA-NRC legislation and are trying to brainwash people into protesting against the government, it can be seen rather easily that this is not the case. People from diverse spheres of life have come together to protest against the legislation. These include students from esteemed universities in India and abroad, political activists, celebrities, and lawyers and advocates. It would be rather foolish and ignorant to believe that they are not aware of the issue against which they are protesting.
While the protests may have died out in the light of the coronavirus pandemic that has engulfed the nation severely, it remains to be seen as to how the Modi-led BJP government will respond to the protests that will most certainly come back as soon as the situation normalizes in the country. For now, however, one can only wait and watch as the nation grapples with the raging covid-19 pandemic and rising unemployment and economic decline.
Who has been protesting, so far?
Three women protesters saving their male friend from thrashing of police at Jamia Millia Islamia | Source: Counter Currents
It is crucial to remember that the protests ignited in the aftermath of the brutal, inhumane and shameful action by police forces in universities like the Jami Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. The crackdown by security forces in these two universities, which resulted in students being injured severely, and hostel rooms, libraries and mosques being destroyed attracted international attention with many esteemed universities in India and abroad condemning the action of the forces.
The most important effect of this crackdown on JMI and AMU students was that it ignited a wave of protests across the country thus resulting in widespread resistance across the nation. Scores of people from diverse religions, educational backgrounds and political affiliations gathered together across major cities in the nation to protest against the government. However, they were not protesting only against the CAA-NRC legislation. What started as a protest against the highly controversial CAA-NRC legislation soon turned into a massive uncoordinated and yet powerful resistance movement against the rising unemployment, economic decline, rampant communal violence and the CAA-NRC legislation of course. The people were protesting to preserve the very soul of the nation- the secular fabric of India that has ensured that the nation as a sovereign state be a sanctuary to people from diverse religions, cultures and ethnicities, ever since it got its independence from colonial rule in 1947.
They were fighting to preserve everything that India has stood for all these years- the unity in diversity, peace, brotherhood and love. And in doing so, people and political activists from diverse spectrums got united in what has been termed as India’s second freedom struggle! In the aftermath of the violent crackdown by security forces in JMI and AMU, political parties such as the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) organized marches across the country. Many State governments have also started protesting against the CAA-NRC legislation and have passed resolutions in the state assembly. The Rajiv Gandhi University Students’ Union (RGUSU) organized a sit-in protest early in January 2020 in the campus against the CAA-NRC legislation. The Student Union president Dopum Sonam termed them ‘unwanted’ declared that the RGUSU stood in solidarity with the students at JNU. RGU Research Scholars’ Forum (RGURSF) General Secretary Prem Taba said “We are extremely anguished by the brutal violence at JNU. It is terrifying and a potential threat to the country’s students''.
The environment surrounding major Indian cities has been very dynamic ever since the CAA-NRC legislation was passed. Women and people took to the streets and had been protesting for weeks together before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived forcing them to vacate the protest sites that have sprung up across the nation in line with the Shaheen Bagh protests in Delhi that had attracted global attention. Dozens of ‘Shaheen Baghs’ propped up across major Indian cities like Lucknow, Bhopal, Raipur, Allahabad, Pune, and Kolkata. It was like the entire nation was on satyagraha against the ruling government.
At the Mansoor Ali Khan Park in Roshan Bagh, Allahabad, women and people get together to protest peacefully against the CAA-NRC legislation as well as the police brutality. “If women in Delhi can protest in freezing cold, why can’t we?” asks Sameena holding her five-year-old in arms as Rashida quips, “We will not budge this law is off our back.” In Pune, Zakia Khan, a college student has been missing her lectures just to be a part of the protests at the Konark Indrayu mall, organized by Qul Jamaat-e-Tanzeem. “We want to show that women can also come together and protest for their right. We are thankful to Dr BR Ambedkar for including the right to protest in the Constitution,” Zakia says.
The crackdown on students and protesters in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and other places suggests that the state has been somewhat intimidated by this uprising and is trying to curb it over fears of more Muslims, Dalits and people from all faiths and cultures uniting together to showcase the truly secular soul of India. These protests are a testament to the fact that Indians respect and uphold the secular status of the nation as guaranteed by the constitution which provides each and every citizen with fundamental rights.
Art at Anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh | Source: Wikimedia
Another unique aspect of these protests has been employing various forms of art to deliver silent yet powerful messages. People are expressing their resistance to the Narendra Modi led BJP government using creative banners, street art, slogans and graffities. From poetry to comedy and even memes, the plethora of creative art forms being employed to voice dissent is delivering a silent yet very powerful message. People from all generations and cultures are united in their stand against the Hindutva extremist policies that the BJP government has aggressively promoted in its entire tenure. The widespread protests against the CAA-NRC legislation have once again proven that the people of India do not believe in the extremist Hindutva ideology of the ruling BJP government. Quite evidently, these protests have come as a huge setback to the BJP government which has always enjoyed strong majority support.
The Assertion of Constitutional Rights by the Muslim Citizenry:
While it would be wrong to say that these protests have centred mostly around Muslims, the way they have protested across the nation has been remarkable. Most importantly Muslims have managed to create a new political identity by raising their voices against the Hindu Nationalist agenda that the BJP government employs aggressively to mobilize popular support of the majority.
Muslims in India have long struggled for political representation. The current Lok Sabha has only 25 Muslims out of 543 members. This roughly translates to a meagre 4.5% compared to the Indian Muslim population which stands at nearly 14.2% of the total population. In January 2018, BJP, the ruling party in India had only four Muslim MLAs out of a total of 1,418 MLAs. Bias against the Muslims has also been evident in the misconduct by police forces across various regions of the country and the rising cases of mob lynching and communal violence against Muslims ever since the BJP came to power in 2014.
However, despite the growing alienation of the minorities in general and the Muslims in particular under the Modi-led government, the latter has not resorted to radical means to fight back. Rather Muslims have increasingly adopted the power given to them by the Indian constitution as the biggest weapon in their fight against the aggressive Hindu nationalism that the BJP has invoked across the nation. In doing so they have aligned with a majority of the Indian population that does not believe in the Hindutva ideologies of the BJP. As per the findings of the CSDS-NES survey of 2019, a large majority of Indians do not believe in the idea. The survey indicates that 75% Hindus reject the Hindutva propaganda, not believing in the idea that India belongs to the Hindus or is a natural Hindu homeland.
It also points out that the majority of the Muslims in the country believe in the secular structure with only 6% falling out of favour with the same.
The Indian Constitution safeguards the interests of the minorities, including the religious minorities and allows people to gather together to reclaim their rights through peaceful protest and expression of dissent when the state adopts policies that violate their rights. This is what Gandhi did in the freedom struggle of India against the Britishers and this is exactly what Muslims throughout the country are doing- they are protesting to claim their right of being an Indian citizen.
So, when Salman Imtiaz, president of AMU Students’ Union opines in his column on The Hindu that Jamia and AMU are evolving into epicentres of national awareness, he invokes this newfound identity as the basis of student protests at these premier institutions that shook the entire nation apart and attracted international recognition. Thus, these protests against the CAA-NRC legislation have the potential to reinforce the declining Muslim identity into the larger scheme of things such as politics, judiciary and education.
Even Muslim scholars have not been immune to this newfound identity. They can be seen in Numerous YouTube videos asking people to continue protesting non-violently. A majority of them have been invoking the spirit of Hindu-Muslim solidarity and brotherhood. While this may not be the first instance of Muslim scholars asserting the secular fabric of India, it is quite certainly a radical departure from the traditional ideologies of the Muslim scholars in the country. While the idea of India as a secular republic and a sanctuary for people belonging to all faiths and cultures has been celebrated by Muslims for a long time, it is quite evident that the protests against the CAA-NRC legislation have only strengthened this belief in the Muslims of the country.
While the majority of the political parties and the judiciary of the country have remained silent on the issue of religious minorities for a very long time, the Muslims of India aren’t silent any more. They have rediscovered this new identity in the form of symbols like the tricolour, the preamble, portraits of Gandhi and BR Ambedkar that dominate their protests against CAA-NRC. The most encouraging factor however has been the fact that this passionate resistance by the Muslims has not been shaped by their ‘representatives’ as has been the case for a very long time. Rather, the Muslim community this time around is representing itself independently, led by its youth and women.
Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan in Jama Masjid, Delhi at an anti-CAA protest | Source: Shakeeb Kpa via Wikimedia
This refined idea of independent representation through the powers granted by the Constitution has been crucial to the entire CAA-NRC inspired resistance. Muslim protesters have been cautious not to make it a religious issue, but rather an ‘attack on the spirit of the Constitution’. Thus, scenes like Chandrashekhar Azad holding a copy of the Constitution with the photo of BR Ambedkar at Jama Masjid and Kanhaiya Kumar’s Azadi song at Shaheen Bagh are a few instances of how this new Muslim political representation is going to shape up in the years to come.
While no one can ascertain the fate of the movement against the CAA-NRC legislation in the wake of OVID-19 pandemic, this newly found identity of an Indian Muslim is here to stay and shall redefine the meaning of nationalism and secularism in the country in future.
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to worsen every day in the nation however, it remains to be seen as to how the protests will shape up again once the situation in the country normalizes.
