Parliament March: Government also benefits from talks

The Modi government has tried to end unnecessary tension by starting talks with the organizers of the Parliament march announced by the Cockroach Janata Party on Monday. This is a welcome step. Democratic governments should not keep the doors of dialogue closed with any section or class of society, no matter how unreasonable the demands of that class may be. The demands of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) are certainly not unreasonable by any measure. How can a demand like fixing accountability for the shortcomings or mismanagement in the national educational system, especially the national level entrance examinations, be called unreasonable? It is worth mentioning that the discontent that arose after the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, was angered by the 'irrelevant' petition of a young lawyer and called him a cockroach, gave birth to a platform called CJP on a social media channel. This platform quickly became a major outlet for the youth to express their anger and resentment towards government policies and intentions. The leak of the paper of a national-level entrance exam like 'NEET', the cancellation of the entire exam due to this leak and the 'disrespect' of the hard work and future prospects of lakhs of examinees made the CJP's public base very wide. Adding fuel to the fire were the errors in the CBSE 12th exam results. The plethora of these errors showed how indifferent the institutions responsible for paving the way for the future of lakhs and crores of students are to the importance of this task. In such a situation, it was natural for the demand for government accountability to arise. This demand emerged in the form of a demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Instead of understanding the pain of the sentiments associated with this demand, the Modi government chose to ignore it. Even now, it is not in the mood to accept these sentiments wholeheartedly. Its argument is that Mr. Pradhan is not to blame for the shortcomings of the national educational system, but he is seriously active in the process of correcting them. He should be supported in this work, not opposed. Instead of showing indifference, the same argument could have been presented in a relatively friendly manner, but governments perhaps find it weak in doing so. Dogmatism seems to them a better political weapon.

The Satyagraha movement started by CJP at Jantar Mantar might not have received much response if Ladakhi environmental activist, inventor and educationist Sonam Wangchuk had not joined it. Her participation and fast unto death gave moral weight to this Satyagraha. The act of forcibly admitting her to the hospital proved to be even more weighty. Although the opponents of the Modi government, especially the political opponents, initially distanced themselves from the CJP movement but then, sensing the public sympathy for Wangchuk, started the Jantar Mantar rounds, their strategic importance should not be doubted. Seeing the government in a bind, if not the political opponents, who else will try to take political advantage of the situation? While the actions like breaking the barricades on Parliament Street on Monday and the police lathicharge in response posed a threat to the peaceful nature of the Satyagraha, the government's response, which fell short of 'rod rule', is a sign of the lack of imagination within the ruling class.

The government has entrusted the responsibility of negotiating with the satyagrahis to Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, which is a good thing. He is of a conciliatory nature and does not get angry even in a tense atmosphere. The government is satisfied that despite the tense situation, it has succeeded in derailing the demand for Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. On the other hand, the CJP leaders are satisfied with the fact that the government is showing a serious attitude towards listening to them and the opposition parties are ready to support their demands. Amidst all such gimmicks, the truth is that the entire national education system needs to be reshaped and made relevant to the times. Another big need is to free exams like 'NEET' or 'JEE' from the clutches of the coaching mafia. Similarly, the business of 'degrees for money' by non-government universities also needs to be strictly stopped. This task should not be entrusted to committees based on government ministries or pro-government academics, but to ad hoc groups with equal representation of the opposition parties. The good of the nation lies in this approach, not in tug-of-war and political tug-of-war.