Lesson One: Dharam is pradhan
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It was not the Prime Minister, the government or the party that forced Dharmendra Pradhan to resign from the post of Union Education Minister, but the youth of the country. The protest by students and youth against the NEET exam malpractice has opened the eyes of the government, which is suffering from the arrogance of power. This Gen-Z was the first to convince the ruling party that it is responsible for the corruption and irresponsibility that pushed many students to suicide. The youth has regained the revolutionary strength of the streets by defeating a government that crushed popular protests, including the citizenship movement, in the streets and in jails. It is a noble moral victory to peacefully confront and defeat an anti-people system that is so ruthless that even the suicide of students whose dreams have been shattered cannot shake. It is this same youth power that made the Prime Minister open his mouth through a video in the wee hours of midnight; he had remained silent for 35 days, unaware of the pain of the people, oblivious to their anger, and without uttering a single word of comfort regarding democratic commitment and speaking out against it.
The youth have once again reminded those who due to their ego have forgotten that the real problems of the countrymen should be discussed in Parliament and the Cabinet. The younger generation has taught the elders that the first word of governance is Dharma, not power and ego. They hold great hope for the future of the country. The resignation of a minister will not end the corruption that has eaten into various sectors, including education and employment, under the Modi regime. When misrule is destroying the entire country and lives are being destroyed, the nonchalant attitude asking who will ask questions has gone too far. It was as if no one has a duty to answer to anyone no matter what they do. The resignation of the minister is important as it is the beginning of that process. The message is intended for all administrative centres that no one who does not fulfill their responsibility to the people should rule the people.
If there were more than 150 leaks in competitive exams during the Modi regime, it is because the entire system has reached a decline with no one answerable to. This is not just the situation in competitive exams; nor is it merely the situation in the education and employment sectors. The knowledge that if you do something wrong, you will be punished is the persuasion to refrain from doing anything wrong. It is because of this that the police from top to bottom are fearlessly hitting people on the head, using nail-studded lathis, and using pellet guns. The government must change its habit of punishing the innocent and sparing the guilty. The current agitation has to make the punishment that started with the minister percolate down to lower rungs. But the current victory of the agitation will remain incomplete until action is taken to ensure that batons and guns are no longer used against those who are protesting peacefully.
