To better understand the dynamics of the current youth movement, it is helpful to look back at the last large-scale student mobilisation the country experienced: the JP Movement. Although this movement bears the name of Jaya Prakash Narayan, it was in fact initiated by the youth of Gujarat and Bihar who, in 1973-74, were protesting – just as they are today – against government corruption amid an economic crisis marked by massive youth unemployment.As is the case today, this student mobilisation began spontaneously in 1973, with a “student morcha” – the Navnirman Yuvak Samiti – sparking street demonstrations in Ahmedabad during which students from Gujarat University carried empty oil cans and banged on thalis. In Bihar, too, students were on the front lines when that state, in turn, became the scene of protests beginning in December 1973. The student movement was then embodied by the Bihar Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti, chaired by a student destined for a political career, Lalu Prasad Yadav.Just as today, the students demanded the resignation of politicians – not that of a minister, but, since both movements were regional, that of the chief ministers, Chimanbhai Patel and Abdul Ghafoor, two protégés of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who were held responsible for the economic crisis and widespread corruption. Just as today too, movements that began spontaneously very quickly gained the support of student unions. In Gujarat as in Bihar, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad leaders provided logistics and discipline—something the Jantar Mantar mobilisation has partly received from left-wing student unions in recent days.As is the case today, leadership was initially provided by a non-partisan figure, JP, who owed his prestige to the Gandhian tradition – a role that Sonam Wangchuk embodies in his own way, as did Anna Hazare in another anti-corruption movement, that of 2012-13, which, however, did not originate in student circles at all.As is the case today, political parties rallied behind this movement. In November 1974, the Bharatiya Lok Dal, the Socialist Party, the Congress (O), and the Jana Sangh formed a National Coordination Committee that foreshadowed the Janata Party. Currently, the support that the parties forming the INDIA coalition are providing to the student movement has not been formalised, but the participation of such prominent leaders as Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, in the demonstrations is highly significant.In this image posted on July 21, 2026, security personnel detain Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during a sit-in protest near the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi. Photo: X/@INCIndia via PTI.As is the case today too, the crackdown on the unrest was fierce from the outset. In Gujarat, police “clashed” with protesters in 33 towns across the state, killing 42 demonstrators. In Bihar, the bandh of October 1974 led to extreme police violence. Nanaji Deshmukh, JP’s aide-de-camp, was himself injured in a lathi charge. On July 20 and 21, in New Delhi, the crackdown on students and their supporters – including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi – was also very heavy-handed.What’s next?Could the scenario that led to the Emergency and Indira Gandhi’s defeat in 1977 repeat itself today? It is certainly worth retracing the steps of this era, especially since the personalities and styles of Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi are comparable. Both won elections thanks to populist strategies centred on themselves and demagogic promises. Both concentrated power in their own hands at the expense of the government, parliament, and federalism. Both have dismantled the country’s institutions to such an extent that important checks and balances – such as the Supreme Court and the Election Commission – have been neutered. Both held power for about a decade before becoming the target of student protests.In the mid-1970s, Indira Gandhi had finally resolved to remove the chief ministers of Gujarat and Bihar from office. But that was not enough to defuse the street protests, which ultimately demanded the prime minister’s resignation. This was the explicit goal of Morarji Desai, who first forced Indira Gandhi to call elections in Gujarat – which the Congress lost – and then sought to force her to resign by intensifying street protests. On June 25, he became the chairman of a new organisation bringing together the major political parties, the Lok Sangharsh Samiti (the People’s Struggle Front), which immediately announced the resumption of pan-Indian protests beginning on June 29. A few hours later, Indira Gandhi asked President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed to declare a state of emergency.We can draw some parallels to these events to shed light on the current situation: the resignation of the education minister – which the students demanded in response to the leaks of exam questions – will likely not be enough to satisfy them. On the one hand, this man is not responsible for the crackdown that has just been unleashed on the young protesters – an event that has caused real trauma. On the other hand, the socioeconomic situation is not likely to improve anytime soon, meaning that the chronic unemployment afflicting young people is set to remain a major problem. It is worth noting that a huge section of urban youth are affected by this, and that the more educated they are, the more they suffer from underemployment.Narendra Modi, in any case, has never yielded to pressure from the streets, except in the case of the “farmers’ laws” – and even then, it took more than one year of protests.But can he afford to let the situation fester in the hope that the protesters will grow weary? That seems risky, given that the recent protests have boosted their confidence. When a government cracks down on its youth, it effectively tarnishes its image and loses all moral high ground. Meanwhile, the protesters are rediscovering the value of courage and the taste for freedom that lie at the heart of successful social movements. These were the ingredients of the movements led by Mahatma Gandhi during the British Raj and, more recently, by Gen Z in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Throughout South Asia, both in the past and today, when anti-democratic and/or corrupt regimes have fallen, it has been as a result of popular mobilisations – sometimes followed by elections. And in those cases, the physical courage demonstrated by leaders willing to take blows and go to prison has played a key role. Alongside the tradition of the hunger strike – an act of self-inflicted violence, from Gandhi to Wangchuk via Morarji Desai – there is another prestigious repertoire in India, and elsewhere. This is of physical courage, from Bhagat Singh to George Fernandes’s resistance to the Emergency, via Indira Gandhi in 1977–78, who was targeted by opponents and briefly imprisoned – she who had already had her nose broken by a thrown stone during her 1967 election campaign.Alongside the successes achieved by Mahatma Gandhi, JP, and Gen Z in the countries mentioned above, we must not forget the failures suffered by protesters comparable to those of today in India and elsewhere: the anti-establishment unrest in Pakistan did not prevent the military from tightening its grip, and Indira Gandhi, with her back against the wall, chose to declare the Emergency.If the protests continue, which path will the Modi government choose? Seeking a compromise would entail significant concessions and a policy shift that meets the expectations of young people – or an escalation of repression? Unless it explores a third path based on more disinformation, increasingly unfair elections, greater control over the country’s institutions, and, naturally, the promotion of Hindu majoritarianism. Authoritarianism and allowing young people to vent their frustrations by making Muslims scapegoats, however, may not be enough. First, fear is shifting to the other side. Secondly, the current students’ movement indeed reflects a return to socio-economic issues at the expense of identity-based rhetoric, whose appeal is waning: Hindus have received significant symbolic gains from the government, starting with the Ram temple in Ayodhya, but today, young people want jobs and are asking when are the “acche din” promised in 2014 coming.Christophe Jaffrelot is Senior Research Fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris, Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King’s College London, Non resident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Chair of the British Association for South Asian Studies.