Zen-G Runs Effective Movement

~Abhishek Vij
The storm that the Jantar-G-G stirred with young people at Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in India’s capital, Delhi, over the paper leak issue, only stopped with the resignation of the Education Minister. Following this, opposition parties and the youth-oriented Janata Party have now launched a campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR amendment. This could be considered a political tug-ofwar. However, such a revolution isn’t just being fueled by the Jantar-G-G in India; not only in poor third-world countries, but also in prosperous European countries, youth take to the streets, lighting the torch of revolution. Recently, young students and millions of people in France have been protesting demanding appropriate education reforms. Their anger stems from the cuts to the country’s education budget. More than 6,500 protesters have been arrested, most of them minors. The protests, which began in mid-September at a high school in the Paris suburb of Crete, have gradually spread to more than 40 French cities, including Paris, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Marseille, and Lyon. The police appear helpless in the face of the protesting youth, a fact acknowledged by the Paris police chief himself. Cuts in education spending are not limited to India but also in some developed countries, as is now being done in France. Remember, young people in India also have the same complaint: why is the 6 percent of GDP set by NITI Aayog never spent on education? Why is the creation of a proper educational infrastructure being neglected? In France, the movement intensified as not only young people took to the streets, but teachers, firefighters, and government employees also joined them. Students resorted to arson and vandalism at various places. Teachers’ unions joined the strike. The agitation escalated to such an extent that hundreds of people were injured. National Police spokesman Foucault stated that over 600 police officers and officials were also injured in the clashes. The French government itself justified some of the students’ demands but condemned the violence in the cities. Students are insisting on improving dilapidated infrastructure and have taken to the streets demanding decongestion of classrooms, addressing shortages of teachers and staff, and adequate funding for running schools. Indian students also complain about the corrupt system for higher education and research, but is the story of neglect of education being repeated in France as well? Due to this neglect of education, India’s examination system has become completely weak. Paper leaks and cheating have become rampant. Hundreds of thousands of angry students marched from Jantar Mantar in Delhi towards Parliament. The brutality with which the police dispersed them remains an issue to this day. The question arises: whether in India or a prosperous country like France, why do their youth have to take to the streets? Why do these overthrows, both by the ruling party and by protesters, have to happen? Why do countries pursuing rapid economic growth neglect education? India is no exception; in many countries, young people take to the streets to voice their demands. Gen Z is seen everywhere raising the banner of protest. Whether domestically or abroad, the makers of the system need to take effective steps in this direction.