February 25, 2026

Professional Protestors Do Exist And Are Very Visible

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-02-09 05:43:41

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

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While talking about the farm stir, Prime Minister Modi said in Parliament that a new jamait (congregation) of andolanjeevis (loosely translated as professional protestors) is being seen who, like parasites, are present at every protest site. This has immediately raised the hackles of some farm leaders and others, mainly people like Prashant Bhushan, who look at it as a slur on peaceful protests.

But has the Prime Minister called all protestors andolanjeevis or parasites? It is very easy to take the Prime Minister's remarks in a wrong way and compare him to an autocrat who sees all dissenters as andolanjeevis or parasites. This view is reinforced as the government is totally against dissent and goes to any length to harass and punish people who hold an alternate view. The tukde tukde gang remark is still fresh in the minds of the people.

But there is also no denying that there indeed is a class of people in India who are professional protestors (this is apart from subject experts who protest against adverse government policies in their domain). Call them by whatever name you like - anti-establishment, rights activists, et al - but at the end of the day it is clear that some of them have made protesting against any or every issue their stated profession. Even the Supreme Court had in the past lashed out at this breed that floods the court with PILs on various issues. Some of these andolanjeevis run PIL factories and are not seen to do any other legal work. It is obvious that it is this breed that Modi was talking about.

Members of this breed are seen at these sites offering their unwanted advice and often misleading the protestors and instigating them into entering into a confrontation with the government or worse. Modi did not call all farmers or union leaders andolanjeevis or parasites. He could not have as India is seeing a protest by farmers after a long time as they feel their interests are being overlooked by the government. But there certainly are professional protestors who are seen at all protest sites. The Prime Minister was talking about them and he was not wrong. He did not in any way denigrate the farmers' stir by pointing out this truth.