EDITORIAL: COCKROACHES FORCED PRADHAN TO QUIT; MORE MINISTERS NEED TO BE OUSTED
Vinod Mubayi
We carry several articles in this issue of the Bulletin on the initial success of the Cockroach Janta Party in forcing the ouster of the previous Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, whose tenure was notable for the scams that occurred in nationwide examinations. His replacement, Pralhad Joshi, another long-term member of the ultra-Hindu right-wing extremist organization RSS, is no better; he may, in fact, be even worse than his predecessor. As independent media and the political opposition have pointed out, Joshi’s only notable “achievement” is his defense of the early release a few years ago by the Gujarat government of a bunch of right-wing Hindu rapists and murderers who were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a pregnant Muslim woman and the killing of her fetus in the anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002 in Gujarat. [India’s Supreme Court severely condemned the state government for the release, reversed the decision, and put the rapists back in jail].
Under the BJP government led by Prime Minister Modi, India’s education sector, especially higher education, is in a shambles, beset by rampant scams in national exams where leaked question papers generate millions for the scam artists, where corrupt privatization proceeds apace, and where RSS functionaries with scant connection to academia have been appointed as university Vice- Chancellors (akin to university Presidents in the US).
However, the ouster of Pradhan is only a first step. The next to go should clearly be the Home Minister Amit Shah, whose portfolio makes him the head of all central police forces in the country, including the Delhi Police. There was horrific violence by the Delhi Police on the protesting students on July 20 including the firing of pellet guns, lathi (baton) charges by uniformed and plain clothes police some of which was alleged to be conducted by BJP goons, tear gas, and sexual molestation of women protestors by male cops. The Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, demanded that Amit Shah be sacked and called for “a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the July 20 violence, holding him responsible for the alleged police action against peaceful protesters.” Gandhi said “The Delhi Police and the RAF (Rapid Action Force) both report to Amit Shah. There are only two possibilities – either Amit Shah ordered the violence against innocent protesters, or he was so incompetent that he had no idea it was being carried out. Irrespective, he should go”.
In its brief history of just 10-12 weeks, the CJP has accomplished something that seemed unthinkable just a few months ago after BJP had swept the (very likely rigged) state elections in Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. Modi and Shah were riding high but the examination scams and the emergence of the CJP have mounted a challenge to the entire ecosystem of authoritarian rule in India from the puppet master RSS to the BJP politicians doing its bidding alongside the millions of andhbhakts (blind followers) and the sold-out godi (lapdog) media. Spurred by the courage shown by the youth, common people are beginning to lose their fear of asking inconvenient questions and opposing the rulers. How far and fast this process goes on and whether it succeeds in dislodging the dead hand of Hindutva on the Indian body politic, however, remains to be seen.
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