Listen to this article:

How quickly the nation’s political mood has changed since the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) showdown on July 20. Unlike the “Modi hai to mumkeen hai (If Modi is there, everything is possible)” days, public agitation is no more taboo. It is no longer confined to struggling farmers of the green belt or the exploited tribal groups in faraway regions.

The CJP agitation has opened the floodgates of street protests by hitherto suppressed subaltern groups. For over a decade, mainstream media had ignored their sufferings and those outside their circles were unaware of the miserable conditions of millions. Evidently, the voices from the margins have reached Delhi’s power corridors.

It has spread from Delhi and Ranchi to other state capitals and deep interiors like Rampur, Hamirpur and Unnao. In Delhi, students in large numbers held a demonstration outside the University Grants Commission (UGC) office against the decision to conduct National Eligibility Test (NET) exams for three subjects. They demanded the scrapping of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

There has been a wave of protests Gen Z and Gen Alpha students across states in the past fortnight. Children have walked out of classrooms, marched to government offices, locked school gates, sat on roads and demanded answers from officials. For what? Fans in classrooms, clean drinking water, functioning toilets, teachers, better food, desks, libraries and, in one case, a road to school.

The youth wave – both Gen-Z and Gen Alpha – has happened for the first time since 2014. It has already spread to BJP-ruled states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. In Unnao, the protest called out poor food, lack of drinking water and a shortage of teachers. Over 250 girl students at J.P. Sarvodaya School came out to protest against teacher shortage and basic amenities.

Gen Alpha is emerging as a new force in India’s protest landscape. From Jharkhand’s Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) protests to UP’s Hamirpur district’s students’ demand for a paved road to their school, the agitation comes in the wake of the CJP-led student movement last month.

The CJP was forced to cancel its press conference in Kolkata after the hall it had booked was denied to it at the last minute, allegedly due to government pressure. The Akhil........

© The Wire