From anti-Hindi protests to farm laws: The movements that shaped modern India

New Delhi, India – In recent days, central New Delhi has been flooded with thousands of armed personnel chasing young protesters demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and struggling to find space to stage sit-ins. Since last week, student organizations and a string of opposition parties have joined a tactical standoff, with tens of thousands appearing on Monday, far outnumbering police.

Protesters are demanding sweeping reforms and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar following revelations of electoral irregularities. The protest marks the latest challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's authority, after his education minister was forced to resign by the same group of protesters less than three months ago. The Modi government has sought to portray the protesters as representing un-national interests, slowing India's growth or even inciting division.

But India, the world's most populous country, has a long history of street protest, from the struggle for independence against the British Empire to movements across 79 years of the republic that have shaped its modern identity. "For a long time, the [incumbent] government has opposed these protests, [and] sometimes engaged with them critically," Rasheed Kidwai, a political analyst in New Delhi and former journalist, told Al Jazeera. "But protest has run through India's story."

Anti-Hindi protests (1965)

India's new constitution envisaged Hindi replacing English as the official language of the central government after a 15-year transition period ending on January 26, 1965. Many in southern India, especially Tamil speakers in Madras state (now Tamil Nadu), feared this would shut them out of government jobs, civil service exams and dealings with the central government. For the federal government of a vast and diverse country, the idea of a common official language for communication was appealing as a unifying tool. But for many ancient societies that had agreed to unite under the Indian Union, it raised fears of cultural domination by the Hindi-speaking north.

Protests by numerous student organizations against the imposition of Hindi erupted, often leading to clashes with police. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a regional party championing Tamil nationalism led by CN Annadurai and M Karunanidhi, spearheaded the demonstrations. In January 1965, Annadurai was arrested on the eve of an anti-Hindi protest. Two young supporters set themselves on fire, and Hindi books were burned. Then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri assured protesters that English would continue to be used alongside Hindi. The DMK won the 1967 Tamil Nadu state election, ending the Congress party's dominance in the state.

It was one of the defining moments for federalism and regional identity in the young India. English remains one of India's two official languages — and the Congress party has never returned to power in Tamil Nadu on its own.

The JP movement (mid-1970s)

The JP movement — named after socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan — began with student protests against corruption, inflation and poor government management in the states of Gujarat and Bihar in 1973-74. It soon grew into a nationwide challenge to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Congress government's dominance of Indian politics. Students, civil society groups, trade unions and opposition parties later joined the protests. Narayan was famous for his call for "Sampoorn Kranti", or "Total Revolution", a slogan that still echoes in India.

The movement laid the groundwork for the national Emergency, declared by Gandhi on June 25, 1975, which suspended civil liberties and censored the press. After the Emergency ended, opposition parties united and defeated Congress in the 1977 general election, ending Gandhi's uninterrupted reign and giving India its first non-Congress government. The Total Revolution did not materialize as Narayan envisioned, but the movement fundamentally changed opposition politics — showing that no leader is immune to electoral consequences from public dissent. Many leaders who emerged from the movement later became state chief ministers and senior federal ministers.

Anti-Mandal Commission protests (early 1990s)

In August 1990, then Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh announced the government would implement the recommendations of a commission set up more than a decade earlier under MP Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal. The Mandal Commission, as it became known, recommended that 27 percent of central government jobs be reserved for people from Other Backward Classes (OBC), communities identified as socially and educationally disadvantaged. The decision triggered nationwide protests against quotas by students from privileged castes, who feared quotas would reduce their access to government jobs.

Quota supporters argued that affirmative action was needed to address entrenched caste discrimination and unequal access to opportunity, while privileged-caste students objected on merit grounds. More than 100 students attempted suicide by self-immolation, and more than 60 succeeded, during those protests. In 1992, the Supreme Court upheld the 27 percent OBC quota in central government jobs, excluding the relatively better-off "creamy layer" within those communities.

Anti-liberalization, anti-globalization protests (early 1990s)

Rather than a unified campaign, the protests grew out of a wave of labor demonstrations and strikes against India's economic reforms, launched in 1991 under then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, who later became prime minister in 2004. The reforms reduced restrictions on private business and opened more sectors to foreign investment. Unions feared privatization and easier business closures would cost jobs, weaken collective bargaining and erode worker protections.

Left-wing political parties backed many of these protests. But the protests could not stop the reform agenda from advancing. Successive governments continued to expand private sector participation, pursue disinvestment in state-owned enterprises and amend labor regulations.

Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement (2011)

The movement erupted amid public outrage over major corruption scandals involving the Congress-led coalition government, including the 2G spectrum allocation controversy and allegations surrounding preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Activists demanded a strong law with an independent anti-corruption watchdog empowered to investigate and punish corruption involving public officials. Social activist Anna Hazare led the movement through hunger strikes, joined by activists such as Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan. Its protests drew huge crowds across the country.

Parliament passed the law in December 2013, establishing a legal framework for an anti-corruption watchdog. But more than a decade later, its impact has been limited. The movement split over whether activists should enter electoral politics. Kejriwal broke away to found the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2012 and became Delhi chief minister twice. The movement's legacy largely sits in the shadow of Kejriwal, who is now in opposition after Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won last year's Delhi state election.

Protests after the 'Nirbhaya' gang rape (2012)

On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old medical student was gang-raped and brutally assaulted on a moving bus in New Delhi. She died on December 29 while undergoing treatment. Victims of sexual assault cannot be named publicly under Indian law. So she became widely known as "Nirbhaya", meaning fearless in Hindi. The crime sparked massive protests against sexual violence, unsafe public spaces, weak policing and the treatment of women in the country. Protesters demanded justice for the victim and fundamental change in how authorities handle sexual assault cases.

Students, young people, women's rights activists and ordinary residents gathered in Delhi, including around India Gate and other key locations. Four adult defendants were convicted and executed; the executions took place in 2020. Parliament passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013, expanding legal recognition of sexual offenses, criminalizing acts such as stalking and voyeurism, and increasing penalties for certain crimes. Activists continue to argue that stronger laws cannot address entrenched misogyny and weak policing. And crimes against women, including sexual offenses, remain widespread across most of India, including the capital.

Anti-CAA protests (2019-20)

India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed in December 2019, provides a fast track to Indian citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who arrived before December 31, 2014. Muslims are excluded from the provision. Critics argue that using religious identity as a basis for preferential citizenship undermines India's constitutional secularism. Millions feared the law could combine with a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) to put Muslims at risk of exclusion and deportation from India.

The movement was decentralized. Students at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University led major protests, while women-led sit-ins, particularly at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, became national symbols of resistance to Prime Minister Modi's Hindu-majority politics. In February 2020, large-scale mob violence targeting mainly Muslims erupted in northeast Delhi. More than 50 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

Meanwhile, the Shaheen Bagh sit-in lasted 101 days before police cleared the site on March 24, 2020, shortly after COVID-19 lockdowns were imposed. Dozens of Muslim activists were arrested and charged under anti-terrorism laws. Student leaders such as Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam remain jailed six years on without trial. The protests could not secure the law's repeal, but they slowed its implementation. The government announced implementation in March 2024, putting the citizenship process into operation.

Farmers' protests (2020-21)

In 2020, the Modi government introduced three farm laws aimed at liberalizing agricultural markets and enabling direct sales to private buyers. Many farmers, especially in northern India, feared the changes would weaken government-run wholesale markets where most of their produce is sold. They also feared the reforms would undercut minimum support prices (MSP), the government-set prices for certain crops. Numerous farmers' unions besieged and blocked roads leading to Delhi under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an alliance formed to coordinate the protest. Thousands of farmers camped on the outskirts of Delhi for months.

More than 700 farmers died from harsh weather, road accidents, suicides and clashes. In November 2021, Modi announced the government would repeal the laws. It was the first time protesters had won a significant concession from Modi, who built political capital as an uncompromising leader.

The 'Cockroach' protests (2026)

It began as satire aimed at remarks by Indian Chief Justice Surya Kant comparing the country's unemployed youth to "cockroaches" and "parasites", which caused outrage amid a decade of declining rankings on multiple democracy indices. Student Abhijeet Dipke amplified the viral joke, founded a pressure group — the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — and led protests against irregularities in the national medical entrance exam. The CJP movement's new protesters, joined by left-wing student organizations, blocked Parliament Street and the popular Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi. The Gen Z protests eventually forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign in July 2026. CJP protesters regrouped, alongside opposition parties, this time demanding CEC Kumar's resignation.