Indian Youth, New Protest Movements and Social Media

Protest movements have a good track record in both colonial and independent India. Youth are one of the important actors in such protest movements. On scanning the history of protest movements of Indian youth we find Naxalbari Movement, JP Movement (against the emergency rule imposed by the Central Government in 1975), Anti Reservation Movement (also known as Anti-Mandal Commission), All Assam Student Union (ASSU) as most important movements of youth in India which have their impact on Indian Society. In the recent past, India has experienced Anti-Corruption Movement led by Anna Hazare in 2011 and Movement against Sexual Abuse and Rape of Young women after the Delhi gang rape case in 2012, in which young people have taken a lead. These movements were not only led by Indian youth but have great influence on Indian youth as well. both the movements were different in nature from previous protest movements as they have used information technology and modern digital devices for various purposes. These two protest movements have used social media and mobile phone to a greater extent to mobilize the youth. The present paper examines the characteristics of these two protest movements and it tries to evaluate the dynamics of the movements and its methodology. The paper also explores the impact of these movements on youth in particular and Indian society in general.