Hidden Message In PM’s Reel?

The Prime Minister has decided to forgive students but the opposition has demanded his apology. In his latest reel, PM Modi said he has decided to embrace and forgive the misguided children who hurled abuses at him during the Jantar Mantar protest. He in fact went on to say that he is willing to forget the agonizing scenes at Jantar Mantar where abusive slogans were being raised because as he put it, he lives for the young of this country. He appealed to people not to ridicule these children or slap cases against them. He said he understands the outrage over these vulgar, offensive slogans, but said that these children are our own and that we should forgive them and move on. You have watched the Prime Minister's video, but let's not forget that the Akrosh in society, as he said, was not primarily against the explicit slogans, but against the barbaric police action and brutality unleashed on unarmed students who were trying to march peacefully. Let's not forget that the state headed by Prime Minister Modi unleashed brute force on students and that it is the state that owes an apology, not forgiveness to those students. Is this an attempt, many ask, to spin the narrative in a way that completely changes the power dynamic and puts the Prime Minister in a position where he can forgive, while escaping accountability for paramilitary forces using pellet guns and rubber bullets on protesting students, often allegedly in violation of SOPs, for male police personnel in some cases assaulting female protesters, and for a Bihar police constable using an AK-47 during the protest, among several other allegations of police excesses And it not just the Prime Minister video For the past week the entire conversation has been shifted from the heart instances of police brutality to the explicit language used by some protesters. From MPs of the ruling party to sections of the legacy media, the post-protest debate has been centred almost entirely around one question. Should abusive language be accepted or condemned during a youth agitation? From FIRs being filed against a young girl for abusing the Prime Minister, to the online character assassination of protesters, the focus has shifted away from the students left with wounds, stitches and in some cases lifelong scars after the police action, to whether some protesters used language that the Sabhi Samaj would not approve of. For those who will turn around and say that we are supporting vile and abusive slogans, let me be clear. We saw and reported from the ground that a section of these protesters was abusive, aggressive and violent. of them did raise very abusive slogans. Should they be criminally prosecuted for it is another debate. We also reported that a section of protesters outside Jantar Mantar pelted stones at police personnel. Those responsible for such acts must absolutely be investigated. But the fact is that the abuse from protesters and the violence from the side of anti-social elements was only one part of the protest. Using it to counter, justify or overshadow the horrific and unprecedented police brutality against unarmed students is a false equivalence. So while forgiveness is the Prime Minister's choice, accountability remains the state's responsibility.