Parti Sosialis Malaysia trembles with indignation at the brutal crackdown inflicted upon the youth, students, activists, and concerned citizens who participated in the peaceful protests led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). We strongly condemn the heavy-handed repression unleashed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. We stand in solidarity with the students, youth, activists, and members of civil society who exercised their democratic right to dissent, only to be met with tear gas, police batons, arbitrary arrests, and physical violence.
India frequently portrays itself as the world’s largest democracy. Yet, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government continues to contradict the very democratic principles it claims to uphold. Dissenting sonic and visual expressions of resistance, including slogans, songs, speeches, placards and banners, were answered not with dialogue but with tear gas, police batons, arbitrary force, and physical abuse. The chants of solidarity and hope were drowned out by screams of pain as law enforcement officers violently dispersed unarmed protesters. Such actions reinforce longstanding concerns raised by human rights organisations regarding the systematic suppression of civil liberties and the erosion of democratic freedoms under the BJP government.
The current wave of protests began at Jantar Mantar, instrumentalising one of India’s most potent traditions of non-violent resistance: the hunger strike, inspired by the nation’s founding father, Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of civil disobedience. The movement emerged following the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) examination scandal, where alleged question paper leaks and examination irregularities shattered public confidence in India’s single gateway to medical education. The scandal devastated thousands of students and families who had invested years of sacrifice and preparation. Public outrage intensified amid reports linking the crisis to numerous student suicides.
Outraged by the government’s failure to take meaningful responsibility, students, youths, activists and ordinary citizens mobilised peacefully to demand justice for the affected candidates, bereaved families, and also for the future integrity of India’s public education system. The demands deeply resonated with the masses who began to daily inundate Jantar Mantar. Spirits of solidarity troubled the regime. Rather than responding with accountability, the government resorted to repression.
PSM is particularly disturbed by two incidents. Firstly, the authorities forcibly ended Sonam Wangchuk’s (the national pride and Ladakh’s resounding activist innovator-educator) hunger strike on its twentieth day under the pretext of protecting his health. Such justification rings hollow when the government continues to ignore the systemic failures that have devastated thousands of students and families and allegedly contributed to multiple student suicides. The forceful removal of Sonam from the primary site of resistance appeared to be a calculated and cynical attempt to demoralise the protesters. However, it failed to do so.
Secondly, the violent suppression of the peaceful march towards Parliament laid bare the government’s intolerance of democratic engagement. Protesters seeking to present their grievances to elected representatives were instead met with excessive force. Images from the protest site reveal a government more willing to silence its people than to listen to them. Disturbing visuals emerging from the protest sites reveal scenes of excessive force against unarmed participants whose only “offence” was demanding accountability from those entrusted to govern them.
The BJP government’s response demonstrates that its priority lies not in addressing legitimate public grievances, but in suppressing dissent through coercion. The Modi administration has repeatedly represented itself as the steward of the world’s largest democracy. However, democracy cannot be measured merely by the size of an electorate or the frequency of elections. Democracy is ultimately judged by how a government treats criticism, protects civil liberties, and safeguards the people’s right to organise, assemble, and dissent. On all these fronts, the BJP government continues to fail.
PSM reaffirms our unwavering solidarity with the students, workers, youth, activists, and ordinary people of India who continue to struggle for justice despite intimidation and violence. PSM calls upon the Indian government to immediately cease all acts of repression against peaceful protesters, uphold the democratic rights guaranteed by its Constitution, investigate the use of excessive force, and genuinely address the demands for accountability and reform. The voices of the people cannot be silenced through violence, and the struggle for justice and democracy will always endure.
Ilaiya Barathi Panneerselvam
International Bureau
Parti Sosialis Malaysia