EDITORIAL
JK News Today
The real agenda of the protesters in Delhi is tumbling out of the closet: engineered “regime change” through the choking of streets.
It has now become evident that this agitation is less about opposing the Election Commission of India (ECI) or the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and more about stalling the state machinery. The ultimate goal is to force a regime change because the protesters and their backers repeatedly failed in democratic electoral battles held both before and after the SIR.
No process in a democracy is flawless. There may well have been issues with how the SIR was conducted in certain states. Affected voters have every right to seek remedial measures through the courts or via internal mechanisms built into the electoral system to rectify errors..
Now, Prashant Bhushan, one of the prominent leaders of this agitation—supposedly directed against the ECI and SIR—has openly admitted their true objective, claiming they are looking for a regime change. He even had the audacity to ask, “Is anything wrong with that?”
There would be nothing wrong with it if they were willing to wait until the next scheduled elections. And voters vote for them . The primary condition is that public support should be there for them. As they know that they don’t have the public support , they know it . That’s why they are staking their claim through streets in the Union Capital . The streets should replace polling booths.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), having tasted success during the paper leak protests that forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign, seems emboldened. However, that success story was deeply contorted. While the initial issue was legitimately about preventing paper leaks that harmed the interests of the youth and pushed them into depression, the narrative was hijacked. There was undoubtedly a flaw in the system, but should an individual minister be made the face of everything that goes wrong?
The channels of communication were spurned, intoxicated by the lung-power and street-power that the CJP gained—only because the government allowed them to protest and persist with their extreme demands. Now, the same CJP has placed itself at the frontline of the protests against the SIR.
Admittedly, the issue does concern the youth. Certain provisions flagged by the ECI, particularly under CEC Gyanesh Kumar, demanded answers to questions that were excessively difficult for new voters. There have also been glaring instances where prominent citizens and political leaders were mysteriously deleted from the electoral rolls. The ECI should have recognized the sensitivity of the matter and initiated immediate measures to redress these genuine grievances.
However, it is beyond comprehension to suggest that the ECI could manipulate millions upon millions of voters across the nation. India is not only the world’s largest democracy, but it is also a nation of tight-knit neighborhoods where societal and cultural bonds are deeply interconnected. People know each other.
At the same time, there is absolutely nothing wrong with cleansing the voters’ list. Weeding out non-citizens who have unlawfully occupied spaces on the electoral rolls is necessary. For too long, such elements have manipulated election outcomes to shield themselves from legal action against their illegal stay in the country.
The entire situation must be viewed through the right perspective. If illicit voters are allowed to decide election outcomes, it not only exposes fatal flaws in the system but also overpowers the inherent democratic rights and privileges of genuine, natural-born Indian citizens. The rights of Indian citizens cannot, and must not, be sacrificed to accommodate an illegal voting bloc.
Looking closely at the motives of these illegal voters and those calling for a regime change, a clear nexus emerges between them and foreign powers that want these unwanted elements to expand their footprint in this country. This is a sin against Indian democracy and the very core of Indian nationhood.
The streets cannot dictate who rules this country. This is a deliberate, orchestrated attempt to court and spread outright anarchy.
