Question Your Wins – Part II

 

Part 1 Blog: Link

In my previous blog, I wrote about the student protest and how the government finally accepted the three demands raised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Many people celebrated it as a victory for students.  

But whenever a government says it has accepted people's demands, we should always ask one simple question. 

Did they really ? 

Sometimes winning on paper is very different from winning. 

After looking at what has happened over the last few days, I feel the celebration came too early. 

The first demand was simple. Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. 

The government can proudly tick the first box. 

But resignation is supposed to mean accountability, not a promotion ceremony. 

In most democracies, a minister resigns after a major failure to accept responsibility. Here, the resignation was followed by applause, celebrations, and a grand welcome in the assembly. 

For a moment, I wondered if I had missed the news. Did India win the Cricket World Cup? 

If a minister resigns after students lose their lives, why does it look like a victory parade? 

Perhaps in CJP's dictionary, resignation is no longer a consequence. It is simply a change of seating arrangement. 

If a student fails an examination, they cannot simply change classrooms and call it success. 

Then why should politicians be treated differently? 

The resignation may have happened, but many people are still asking whether accountability really happened. 

There is a difference between removing a person from a position and fixing the system that caused the problem. 

So the first demand was fulfilled, but only partially. 

The second demand was very clear. 

The FIRs filed against protesting students and activists should be withdrawn. 

The government agreed. 

At least publicly. 

But what happened afterwards has raised many questions. 

Instead of hearing news about FIRs being withdrawn, many people have claimed that authorities started identifying those who criticised the government on social media. 

People who posted videos, comments or opinions online have reported being questioned or facing police visits. 

If these reports are true, then the fear among students has not disappeared. 

The method has simply changed. 

The second demand was supposed to reduce fear. 

Instead, many people feel the fear still exists. 

The third demand was probably the most painful part of the entire movement. 

Several families lost their children.

Some students died by suicide. 

Parents who spent years dreaming about their children's future suddenly had to attend their funerals instead. 

No amount of money can replace a child. 

No compensation can remove that pain. 

But governments usually announce financial assistance because it is one way of accepting responsibility and helping families survive emotionally and financially. 

Strangely, this issue has almost disappeared from public discussion. 

Justice is not only about changing ministers. 

Justice is also about standing beside those who suffered the most. 

Unfortunately, this demand seems to have been forgotten. 

Something very interesting happened after the protests. 

Instead of discussing student deaths, examination failures and accountability, the public conversation suddenly shifted towards reservation. 

Social media started arguing about upper caste versus lower caste. 

It is almost as if the country forgot why students came onto the streets in the first place. 

The original issue slowly disappeared. 

Instead of questioning those in power, people started questioning each other. 

History shows that this is one of the oldest political strategies. 

When people begin fighting among themselves, they stop asking difficult questions to the government. 

Many people have strong and diversed opinions about reservation. 

Everyone has the right to express their opinion. 

But we should ask ourselves one honest question. 

Did reservation cause this crisis or conducted the examinations or created administrative failures ? 

The answer is no. 

Then why has reservation suddenly become the biggest topic? 

Changing the topic is sometimes easier than solving the problem. 

Many people ask why reservations has continued for so many years. 

The answer is not as simple as people think. 

Reservation was never introduced only because some communities were poor. 

It was introduced because for centuries many communities were denied education, land, government jobs and equal opportunities. 

This was not an accident. 

It was part of the social system. 

When people are denied education for generations, they cannot compete equally with those who had access to education for centuries. 

Many lower-caste communities could not own land, could not study and could not participate equally in administration. 

Even today, land ownership, wealth and social influence remain unequal in many places. 

This is exactly why Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and the makers of the Constitution believed that some form of support was necessary. 

Many people think reservation was supposed to end after a few years. 

That was probably the hope. 

But the hope depended on society changing. 

Unfortunately, caste never disappeared. 

Even today, many families ask about caste before marriage. 

People proudly use caste surnames. 

Political parties ask for votes based on caste. 

Community organisations are still organised around caste identities. 

If caste still decides many opportunities in life, how can reservation disappear automatically? 

Reservation is not surviving because the Constitution forces it to survive. 

It survives because caste itself has survived. 

Some people argue that once a family becomes financially strong, reservation should stop. 

There is some logic in discussing reforms. 

But we should also understand that caste discrimination is not only about money. 

In my opinion, the biggest failure is not reservation. 

The biggest failure is that India still has not built a strong welfare system. 

Good government schools should be available everywhere, instead they are getting closed & that the only reason for students agitation. 

Quality healthcare should not depend on income. 

Every child should receive equal opportunities from the beginning. 

If all children started from the same point, the debate about merit would become much more meaningful. 

Today they do not. 

Looking at everything that has happened, I feel the biggest victory was not accepting the three demands. 

The biggest victory was changing the conversation. 

People stopped asking difficult questions about accountability, grieving parents. And failed education system. 

People stopped discussing failures in the education system. 

Instead, everyone started fighting over the reservation again. 

Maybe that was the real success. 

When citizens fight each other, governments get time to breathe. 

The protest may have ended. 

But justice is still incomplete. 

So before celebrating victory, perhaps we should ask ourselves one last question. 

Did the students really win?