On Friday, 31 July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted another late-night Instagram reel in which he assumed a paternalistic air to ‘forgive’ the young protesters who had used foul language against him and his mother. The protesters were ‘misguided children’, he said, who had to be shown the right path.

But the performance elides the disturbing question: what offence in the law of a supposed democracy was he forgiving? And how about seeking forgiveness first for the misguided actions of his own government that had brought these young protesters to Jantar Mantar in their thousands from all corners of the country?

Even if we grant that the language heard in the protests was occasionally crude and offensive, when did bad taste become a criminal offence? In a democracy, citizens do not owe their prime minister affection, deference or parliamentary vocabulary. Unless words constitute a credible threat, incitement to violence or another clearly defined crime, they remain protected political expression. The state has no business punishing people because they expressed their anger impolitely.

The timing of Modi’s intervention is also revealing. He stepped in after his government had already been forced by the scale of the protests mushrooming all over the country to remove the education minister. After the protests had been called off on 23 July, following a deal with the government and assurances that all FIRs against the protesters would be withdrawn, a promise that wasn’t kept.

The protesters, especially young women, were subjected to orchestrated online vilification, doxxing and intimidation. Vigilante supporters of the government were seen intimidating protesters in busy markets even as the police stood by. When criticism of this retaliation intensified and young people threatened to return to the streets, Modi reappeared on Instagram to bestow his gift of forgiveness, turning the question of state........

© National Herald