Jharkhand burns, Congress watches

The Jharkhand student agitation has exposed the Congress’s most familiar political habit. Outrage when an opponent is in power, silence when an ally is responsible. Thousands of job aspirants protesting alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations marched towards the Jharkhand Assembly on Monday. Police used tear gas, water cannons and batons when the protesters tried to breach security arrangements. Rahul Gandhi has spoken about the issue, saying that the use of force against students is wrong and that the Jharkhand government must listen to them. But that statement raises an uncomfortable question - if his own political standards genuinely demand accountability, why does he not demand accountability from the Hemant Soren government?
The police action is disturbing and deserves scrutiny. As protesters moved towards the Assembly, security forces deployed barricades, tear gas and water cannons, followed by baton charges amid escalating confrontation. Reports said protesters and police clashed, with injuries reported. A democratic administration has the right to protect a legislature and prevent an unlawful breach, but force must remain proportionate. If peaceful students were subjected to excessive force, those responsible should face accountability. If protesters crossed legal limits or became violent, that too must be established on evidence. The answer cannot be political convenience. It must be an impartial examination of what happened.

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When student protests become an opportunity to attack the Narendra Modi government, Rahul Gandhi is invariably at the front. He has described protesting students as young Indians asking questions and has repeatedly demanded accountability from the Centre. He has argued that governments must listen to students. But principles lose meaning when they stop at the doorstep of an ally. Jharkhand is governed by Hemant Soren, whose JMM leads a coalition that includes Congress. Congress has 16 MLAs in the verning alliance. Therefore, the question is unavoidable. Will Rahul Gandhi demand an explanation from Hemant Soren? Will he ask why thousands of young people had to come onto the streets? Will he demand an independent probe? And if he believes the government has failed the students, will he demand Hemant Soren’s resignation?

It is easy to lecture the BJP from Delhi. It is considerably harder to confront an ally in Ranchi.
Rahul Gandhi’s doublespeak is becoming impossible to miss. When a BJP-ruled government faces a student protest, the incident becomes evidence of authoritarianism. When a Congress-supported government faces the same accusation, the language changes -listen, resolve, dialogue. Congress cannot claim the moral high ground in Delhi while lowering the standard in Ranchi. Students are not Congress property. Their grievances cannot become political ammunition. Their anger over jobs and examinations cannot be selectively converted into a weapon against Narendra Modi while being treated as an administrative inconvenience in a Congress-allied state.

Rahul Gandhi’s politics increasingly appears designed around the headline. A dramatic statement, a photograph with protesters, an accusation against the Centre and a demand for resignation can dominate the news cycle. But leadership is not measured by the number of headlines generated. It is measured by the willingness to accept responsibility when the problem belongs to one’s own political camp.
Students deserve transparent recruitment, credible examinations, an impartial investigation and a government prepared to answer difficult questions. They do not need political leaders competing for television headlines. Rahul Gandhi has missed an opportunity to prove that his concern for students is genuine. He should go to Ranchi. He should meet the protesting students. He should question Hemant Soren. He should demand a fair probe. And if he concludes that the state government has failed irredeemably, he should have the courage to demand its resignation and withdraw Congress support.

Same is the case of the ecosystem that descended on Jantar Mantar whenever students protested against the Union Government? Where have those self-appointed champions of democracy disappeared? Their conspicuous silence in Jharkhand is more than political inconsistency. It strengthens the allegation that their activism was never about students, but about political destabilisation and malafide intentions.