Ram Madhav Defends Young Protesters' Right to Express Grievances

They were called Gen Z, millennials and even “Gillennials”. But the young people who gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in July had a simpler identity, citizens raising concerns they wanted the government to address. Following the youth-led protest, BJP leader Ram Madhav in an interview with the Indian Express pushed back against attempts to blame or categorise young protesters saying protests are a legit way of expressing grievances in a democracy. “Why should anyone blame anyone else? In a democracy, there can be protests. Democracy allows you to publicly express your concerns, your grievances. It happens,” Madhav told The Indian Express . “You called it Gen Z, somebody will say Gen something else, somebody will say millennials, now somebody is saying Gillennials. Why divide our youth?” he said. Madhav said young people in India often use different means to raise issues that concern them and the Delhi demonstration as one such expression of grievances. The BJP leader was referring to the July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which began peacefully but later descended into violence amid police crackdown. Protest leaders alleged that the Delhi Police used lathis, tear gas and in some instances, pellet guns, causing injuries. The CJP protest was called off on July 25 after the government gave assurances on some of the protesters’ demands. The demand which included the replacement of then former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the withdrawal of police cases against student protesters without criminal records. Pradhan was subsequently replaced by Pralhad Joshi. Madhav said the protesters themselves had acknowledged the government’s response and withdrawn further calls for demonstrations. “Now they themselves uh those who led the campaign themselves said they are satisfied with government’s action and they withdrew the call they gave for some other protests. They said we are happy with the way government responded to our demands,” BJP leader stated in the interview.