Why New Zealanders should care about the student protests in India

The useful part

Amid the growing ties between our two countries, there are lessons for Aotearoa in the recent gen Z-led protests in India and the complex, confounding societal forces roiling the world's most populous country. India has been in the news in New Zealand a lot recently for reasons relating to the increasing political and commercial ties between our two countries. Less covered has been a burgeoning protest movement in India and what it says about Indian society today.

How it works

• As a gender studies scholar of contemporary India (and as an Indian New Zealander), watching the recent student protest movement in my mother country has made me feel both distress and respect.
• The protest movement – largely student groups and newly formed political project "Cockroach Janta Party" (CJP) – has been propelled by feelings of a squandered future.
• The trigger was the breakdown of trust in India's national examination systems.
• Every year, millions of Indians sit major, extremely competitive public exams in the hope that they will gain entrance to myriad public jobs, professions or university courses.
• Allegations of examination irregularities and corruption, including the leaking of papers in advance, caused immense suffering for young people and their parents – including cases of suicide.

What to take from it

What began as frustration over exam administration expanded into broader demands for transparency, fair governance, better employment opportunities and institutional...

Details worth keeping

Many students argued that these failures of public administration undermined merit and threatened their educational and career prospects, but also highlighted systemic corruption and nepotistic opportunities for politically connected families.