The Winter Session of Parliament begins today, with 36 bills expected to be passed, including one repealing the three controversial farm laws. In addition to the 36 legislative bills, the session is expected to introduce one Finance Bill over the course of 19 sittings.
On the first day of the Lok Sabha, the Farm Laws Repeal Bill was scheduled for introduction and passage. Both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have issued a three-line whip requiring
their members of parliament to attend today's session.
On November 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the repealing of the laws which led to a year-long protest by farmers across the country. However, the farmers have not called
off to the protest as they decided to wait till the laws are repealed in parliament and the government gives its final words of MSP.
Meanwhile, farmers postponed their 'sansad chalo,' or march to Parliament,' call on Saturday. The march has been rescheduled for November 29, today.
This is not the first time people have gathered in large numbers and made the ruling parties realise that "Democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people."
Here are some major protests in Indian history that rekindled people's faith in democracy.
- Anti-Hindi imposition movements in Tamil Nadu (1965)
After Jawaharlal Nehru died in 1964, Tamils were concerned that his commitments to keep English as an official language would not be kept. Protests against the imposition of Hindi across
the state erupted, with college students at the forefront. In Madurai, a clash between agitating students and Congress workers devolved into a riot that spread across the state.
The protest continued for around two months and according to government estimates, about 70 people were killed in just two weeks of riots. The Congress government attempted to treat the agitation as a law and order issue by deploying paramilitary forces.
Finally, on February 11, 1965, the Prime Minister backed down and promised to honour Nehru's assurances in a radio broadcast. He also reassured Tamils that English would continue to
be used for inter-state and intra-state communications, as well as for the All India Civil Services examination.
- The Bihar Movement (1974)
The Bihar movement was a political movement against misrule and corruption in the state government of Bihar, India, that began in 1974 and was led by veteran Gandhian socialist Jayaprakash
Narayan, also known as JP. It later turned against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's government. It was also known as the JP Movement and Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution Movement).
JP announced at a Patna rally on June 5 that he would organise a protest at the Bihar Legislative Assembly, which resulted in the arrest of 1,600 agitators and 65 student leaders by July
1, 1974.
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This was a movement in Assam against undocumented immigrants, a revolution by the state's indigenous people to protect their rights and homeland from the illegal migrants who had been
infiltrating the state for years. The movement was led by the All Assam Students Union and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad. They devised a protest and demonstration strategy to pressure the government to identify and deport
illegal immigrants.
- Anti-reservation protests (2006)
The 2006 anti-reservation protests in India were in response to the Indian Union government's decision, led by Congress, to implement reservations for the other backward classes (OBCs) in both public and private higher education institutions.
The Indian anti-corruption movement began in 2011 with a series of demonstrations and protests across the country, intending to establish strong legislation and enforcement against what
was perceived to be widespread political corruption.
The movement gained traction after anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare began a hunger strike at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar monument on April 5, 2011. The Jan Lokpal Bill was introduced
as part of the movement to combat corruption in the Indian government. The repatriation of black money from foreign banks was another goal pursued by Ramdev, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Jayakumar Ezhuthupally.
Protesters concentrated their efforts on legal and political issues such as political corruption, kleptocracy and other forms of corruption. Demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience,
hunger strikes, rallies, and the use of social media to organise, communicate, and raise awareness were all part of the nonviolent civil resistance movement.
- Nirbhaya Movement (2012)
The gang-rape incident in Delhi in 2012 elicited one of the most vehement reactions from people who made it clear that they had had enough. Thousands of people took to the streets in several
parts of the country to protest after the incident. The movement caused a stir on social media as well. Taking the movement into account, the federal government and various states announced a series of measures to ensure women's
safety.
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- Pro-Jallikattu Protests, Tamil Nadu (2017)
After years of complaints from PETA about animal cruelty, the Supreme Court banned the traditional bull-taming sport Jallikattu, but the ban was not accepted by the people of Tamil Nadu. The protestors claimed that the sport is fundamental to their culture. When police attempted to evict the protestors, the situation became violent. To show solidarity, around 2,000 people gathered on the street near Chennai's Marina beach.
The Tamil Nadu government legalised Jallikattu on January 23 by passing a bill amending the PCA (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) 1960 Act.
- FTII Agitation (2015)
When Gajendra Chauhan was appointed chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India in June 2015, students were concerned because he not only lacked the necessary qualifications,
but he had also been a right-wing hardliner for 20 years. Students went on an indefinite strike to protest the appointment, with demonstrations in cities such as Delhi erupting into a clash between students and police.
In solidarity with the students of FTII, directors Anand Patwardhan, Diwakar Banerjee, and others returned their national awards. The students ended their protest after more than 150 days
of agitation.
- CAA protest (2019)
The Citizenship Amendment Act (Bill) protests, also known as the CAA Protest or CAB Protest, occurred as the Government of India enacted the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 12,
2019. The act, as well as its associated proposals for the National Register of Citizens (NRC), sparked widespread national and international protests.
Protests in Assam began on December 4, 2019. Later, protests erupted in Northeast India, which then spread to India's major cities. On the 15th of December, large protests took place
near New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University.
As the protests erupted, mobs set fire to both public and private property, and several train stations were vandalised. More than 200 students were injured, and around 100 were detained
overnight in the police station after police forcibly entered the Jamia campus and used batons and tear gas on the students.
As of December 27, 2019, thousands of people had been arrested and 27 people had died as a result of the protests. In December, police in several parts of India issued a blanket ban on protests.