The current agitation by the Opposition parties and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls points to attempts to turn it into a national political movement.This comes after the month-long CJP-led protests of students and youths over the NEET paper leak culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in July. The CJP leaders had projected Pradhan’s exit as proof that sustained street pressure could force accountability from the government.AdvertisementThe mass agitations in the country, however, have had a chequered history since Independence – some of them forced governments to retreat, several could not achieve their stated objectives but transformed politics, and some others failed to push governments to accept their key demand despite raging for months.Here is a look at 10 major mass agitations that the country has seen over the decades.Five stirs that succeeded1. Anti-Hindi agitation, 1965Issues/objectives: Article 343 of the Constitution provided for Hindi becoming the Union’s official language after a 15-year transition. As January 26, 1965 approached, fears intensified in Madras State that Hindi would displace English in Union administration leading to the demand that Hindi should not be imposed.AdvertisementImpact: The protests spread across Madras State through student strikes, processions, strikes, attacks on Hindi signages and government property, and clashes with police. There were self-immolations, killings of policemen and deaths in police firing. The movement had an organisational base in the DMK, even as students played a significant role in it independently.State response: Then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri initially stood by the constitutional changeover. But the intensity of the agitation, coupled with pressure from Tamil Congress leaders, forced his assurance that English would continue and that Hindi would not be imposed on non-Hindi states.Outcome: The protesters’ main objective was achieved. Two years later, the DMK won 138 Assembly seats and formed the government in Tamil Nadu. The Congress has since never returned to power on its own in the state.What it showed: A movement need not spread uniformly across India to force national change. Concentrated resistance in an entire state created a federal row which the Centre could resolve only through a compromise.2. JP movement, 1974-75Issues/objectives: The JP movement grew out of the Bihar student protest against corruption, inflation, unemployment and poor governance, which was adopted by Jayaprakash Narayan. He demanded dissolution of the Bihar Assembly before broadening the stir to call for “Sampoorna Kranti” or “Total Revolution”.Impact: The movement extended beyond Bihar. JP toured the country and brought together socialists, Jana Sangh leaders, Congress dissidents and other opponents of Indira Gandhi. By the end of 1974, he convened a conclave of the Opposition parties in Delhi.State response: The Bihar Assembly was not dissolved. As confrontation intensified, the Indira Gandhi government imposed the Emergency in June 1975 and jailed JP and many Opposition leaders.Outcome: Its immediate demands might not have been met, but the movement crafted the Opposition unity that finally led to the Janata Party defeating the Congress in the 1977 Lok Sabha polls.What it showed: JP proved that a movement might face an initial setback, but it could eventually win by turning disparate grievances into a larger political movement.3. India Against Corruption, 2011Issues/objectives: This agitation was launched to demand a law to ensure a Jan Lokpal capable of investigating corruption independently.Impact: The Anna Hazare-led stir became a national spectacle. Tens of thousands attended its events at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan; solidarity marches spread to other cities; television channels covered them continuously. Large crowds comprising urban professionals, students, NGOs and activists rallied round it, which was fuelled by Baba Ramdev’s parallel mobilisation against black money. Team Anna was at its forefront through fasts, rallies, negotiations and even electoral campaigns against the Congress candidates.State response: The ruling Congress-led UPA first resisted, then negotiated with Team Anna. The government also took up the protesters’ demands for discussion in Parliament.Outcome: Team Anna did not get the Jan Lokpal law in the form it demanded, but consequentially, the movement created a national narrative against the UPA government. Then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi rode this wave of discontent to project himself and the BJP as the alternative. And in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP, for the first time in history, stormed to power on its own. It also led to the emergence of a new party, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, that went on to rule Delhi for three consecutive terms.What it showed: The movement’s real strength was its narrative building, which clubbed several scandals and rows to project an overarching proposition – that the UPA government was allegedly defined by corruption.4. Nirbhaya protests, 2012-13Issues/objectives: The gangrape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2012 convulsed the nation, triggering widespread protests for justice, tougher sexual-offence laws and greater accountability for women’s safety.Impact: Largely spontaneous crowds of young people repeatedly occupied India Gate, Raisina Hill and other public spaces in the national capital, with protests spreading to major cities across the country.State response: Police used barricades, water cannons and force, but the government simultaneously constituted the Justice J S Verma Committee, which came up with its report in just 29 days after around 80,000 submissions.Outcome: Parliament passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, which expanded the legal definition of rape and also provided for more stringent punishment for other offences against women, such as stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks and sexual harassment.What it showed: For the government, the cost of appearing unresponsive was enormous, while making legislative concessions were relatively easier.5. Anti-farm laws agitation, 2020-21Issues/objectives: The farmer protesters demanded a repeal of the three central farm laws besides a legal guarantee of MSP (minimum support price) for crops.Impact: Protesters set up their sites at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur on the Delhi border and continued their stir for more than a year even amid harsh weather conditions and the Covid pandemic.State response: The Centre held 11 rounds of talks with farmers, offered amendments to the farm laws and even proposed suspending them for 18 months.Outcome: After a year-long agitation, PM Modi announced the scrapping of the farm laws in November 2021. The statutory MSP demand has remained unmet.What it showed: In the face of a protracted agitation with limited electoral implications, the government could choose to retreat rather than risk continued confrontation.Five stirs that failed1. Cow-protection agitation, 1966Issues/objectives: This agitation was undertaken to demand a nationwide prohibition on cow slaughter.Impact: On November 7, 1966, about 1.25 lakh people marched towards Parliament. The crowd included sadhus, Jana Sangh supporters and cow-protection activists. Violence broke out in central Delhi; public buildings and vehicles were attacked, and an attempt was made to breach the Parliament cordon. Police opened fire at protesters and several people were killed. Home Minister Gulzarilal Nanda subsequently resigned.State response: While PM Indira Gandhi refused to clamp a nationwide ban on cow slaughter, her government constituted a committee to examine the issue.Outcome: The Jana Sangh used the agitation to boost its political relevance.What it showed: Even enormous mobilisation cannot necessarily push the government into accepting a demand where it involves constitutional, federal and ideological complications.2. All-India railway strike, 1974Issues/objectives: The strike was called to press for better wages and working conditions, including fixed working hours, for the locomotive staff.Impact: George Fernandes mobilised about 1.7 million railway employees in a three-week strike that brought much of the railway network to a halt.State response: Indira Gandhi used overwhelming force to deal with the strike. Union leaders were arrested; thousands of employees were detained; workers’ families were evicted from railway housing in some places, and even the Army was deployed in several areas.Outcome: The strike ended without getting its demands fulfilled.What it showed: Disruption alone does not guarantee bargaining power. The striking railway workers caused massive disruption but the State’s coercive leverage was greater – it controlled their jobs, salaries, housing and disciplinary mechanism.3. Anti-Mandal agitation, 1990Issues/objectives: The anti-Mandal stir was mounted to press for the withdrawal of the V P Singh government’s decision to implement 27% reservation for OBCs in government jobs.Impact: Student demonstrations, strikes and road blockades on the issue spread across northern India. Rajiv Goswami’s self-immolation bid triggered, by some estimates, over 100 such attempts and at least 60 deaths.State response: PM V P Singh refused to roll back the decision.Outcome: The issue of social justice became a fulcrum of north Indian politics.What it showed: The fiasco underlined a key aspect of politics: the intensity of street protests may not necessarily reflect the support of a majority.4. Narmada Bachao Andolan, 1980s-90sIssues/objectives: The Medha Patkar-led Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) led protests along with affected people against big dams, including the Sardar Sarovar project, and highlighted displacement, rehabilitation failures and human and environmental costs.Impact: The NBA undertook village mobilisation, marches, hunger strikes, court cases and international advocacy over decades. Its campaign led to an independent World Bank review of the Sardar Sarovar project.State response: India requested cancellation of the remaining World Bank loan to the project in 1993, but its construction continued. The Supreme Court later permitted the dam’s height to be raised subject to rehabilitation conditions.Outcome: The NBA was dealt a blow with the Sardar Sarovar dam reaching a maximum 138.68-metre height.What it showed: Once a large infrastructure project reaches a certain stage, the political and financial costs of abandoning it can become greater than the risks of pushing it amid protests.5. Anti-CAA/Shaheen Bagh protests, 2019-20Issues/objectives: The protests that erupted in December 2019 opposed the NRC (National Register of Citizens)/NPR (National Population Register) exercise and called for repeal of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).Impact: The women-led Shaheen Bagh occupation lasted 101 days and inspired more than 200 similar sit-ins across India, galvanising students and civil society groups nationally.you may likeState response: The Modi government refused to repeal the CAA. There were violent clashes between police and protesters in several parts of the country. More than 20 people were killed in police firing in UP. Delhi was roiled by riots in February 2020 in which scores were killed. The protests abruptly ended amid the Covid-related curbs in March 2020.Outcome: The CAA remains a law, with its rules being eventually notified in March 2024. The government however, deferred the NRC indefinitely.What it showed: The numbers of protesters and their persistence matter when they have political leverage over the government. A government has less incentive to blink if the protesting groups are not critical to its social and political calculations, especially when the issue is tied to its larger ideological project.