CJP Feels Real Now

Modest (for Delhi) coverage from a few media outlets. No engagement by the government. Tiring protest. No sight of immediate (or delayed) success. CJP is now on realistic grounds.

An unusual beginning

CJP as an opposition movement was very much unlike the usual in the beginning.

Millions of followers for a political campaign. What?

Publicly announcing protest and not getting arrested. How?!

Strategy of non-ideology

I agree with the approach CJP used of not articulating an ideology. They knew that their mass was not ideological. They wanted to remain accessible and acceptable to liberals and other centrists. If they started talking about class, caste, gender, etc on day 1 they would have been non-existent now.

As far as strategy goes CJP has played it reasonable. Like MK Gandhi went to Champaran on a single issue, Abhijeet Dipke went to Jantar Mantar on a single issue.

Practical politics for idealists

CJP has done well in creating momentum behind one political issue. They have dedicated time, effort, and resources to the cause. They are persisting on the issue. What CJP is doing now is the maximum that good people in India can do now.

And the results are proportional.

There is some synergy, some noise, some hope, etc. It might achieve something. A minister might resign. An exam pattern might change.

Visibility as power

If I have 22M followers on Instagram, am I powerful?

That is a question which will give us access to many layers of what’s happening in front of us.

It is now evident that 22M followers is not enough power to get a BJP minister to resign in a few weeks.

What power does follower-count / visibility have then?

In Ravikant Kisana’s out-of-context words, “it is not nothing”.

In the attention economy, having a platform where you can rise above the noise and be heard is almost a prerequisite for impact. And that platform is what CJP has.

How you accumulate power determines what you can do with it

This is where the means vs ends debate comes into practice.

Whatever little power CJP has accumulated, it has accumulated through:

• being viral
• focusing on a burning issue (of NEET)

These are fragile forms of gathering power. There’s no formula to be viral. Your luck might run out any moment.

The burning issue will stop burning.

The power that CJP started with is not a sustainable fuel. It will run out. Especially if they try to use it for anything it is not designed for.

…unless you manage to leverage what you have and gain more power

This is what AAP did. They leveraged the India Against Corruption credentials to launch a political party. I do not know all that went into that transformation, but transformation they did. And by becoming a non-joke political party in India they were able to become much more powerful than what they would have been as IAC movement.

Can CJP do such a transformation? I believe it is unlikely.

How can CJP become a political party? BJP will use Abhijeet Dipke’s past ties with AAP to discredit this new party. And having flown in from America, it will be difficult for AD to build an image of a nationalist. Sonam Wangchuk might seem like an Arvind Kejriwal, but the persona SW has built is that of an intellectual and so SW is unlikely to enter party politics. Unless someone else hijacks the control of CJP, a political party can’t come out of it.

CJP as a youth movement

A viable option is for CJP is to rebrand (with or without a rename) themselves to something more serious and continue as a socio-cultural movement/campaign/organization. In this process they can articulate their ideology more clearly.

If they go this route, Abhijeet will be forced to take an anti-caste ideology. And consequentially, some of AD’s present friends will leave. They might establish themselves as cultural observers, or join political parties.

In any case, CJP will become a shadow of its past.

What did it achieve?

I think CJP is a valuable exercise in keeping Indian democracy alive. CJP made protests cool again. CJP has given a front-row lesson to a whole generation on how a protest/campaign is organized, sustained, etc. Whatever happens at the end of the current protest, it will also teach a lot of people how activism works.

CJP also provides real world data on how much/little influence Instagram has on real world politics. As per my calculations, it is a wake-up call for those who are spending all their time doing conscientization on Instagram.

Why CJP is real now

CJP has crossed its initial euphoria now. In the euphoric stage, a lot can happen and there’s no way to predict what will or what will not. But now, after the initial enthusiasm has gone, is time for re-evaluation. For outsiders and for insiders.

Let’s hope for the best and assume that Dharmendra Pradhan will move aside. Then the protestors will be able to take a breather and reevaluate their life. Incomplete degrees, unpaid bills, pending tasks, other priorities, unfulfilled political goals, meaning of life. It is at that point that we will know how CJP will continue.

Tiring life of activists

I don’t follow CJP on Instagram. I follow Neha of AISA.

Regardless of how cheerful an activist presents themselves as, activism is tiring. It is an unpaid job with very rare rewards. One can reframe it mentally and find joy in the day-to-day. Especially when people show up in solidarity.

But fundamentally the activist is dedicating their life for the benefit of others. And it’s not very pleasurable.

In solidarity

It is in this hungry, exhausted phase of CJP that I feel affectionate towards it. There is relatability here. There is now the feeling that we are all together in this mess. There is now a sense of solidarity.

Hum Honge Kaamyaab.