“Foreign hand” and “destabilisation of the country” have been two themes that governments and ruling parties have frequently deployed to frame major protest movements, and the Narendra Modi government is no exception. The protesters have almost invariably evoked Mahatma Gandhi or the Constitution to legitimise their protest as a fundamental right.

Here is a look at how governments and ruling parties framed the three major protests they faced on issues of corruption or governance: the current protests by the Cockroach Janta Party and the broader Opposition — first against the NEET exam paper leaks and then the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls — the Anna Hazare movement of 2011 which shook the previous UPA government, and the JP movement that unseated Indira Gandhi from power after the Emergency of 1975-77.

SIR, NEET paper leaks

Targeting Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on October 22 that at a time when “the world is searching for a new order, some…