‘Everything is political’: The anger driving India’s young women to hit the streets

Young women are joining protests because they see seemingly separate injustices as connected. Violence against women, police mistreatment, voting rights, and discrimination all shape their freedom and safety. The protests also reflect anger toward wider state failures and a political regime they view as misogynistic.

Ananya returned to the streets after a policeman pressed his pelvis against her during a detention. Sahar said sexual violence and losing voting rights through SIR were both political issues. Dhanashri connected her childhood experience of being denied equal treatment with later activism against patriarchy.

Participation has grown alongside protests over rape cases and violence against women. Mariam Dhawale suggested more women joined the SIR protests because many were already mobilised. Their continued presence shows that police intimidation has not ended their activism, and that personal experiences can become organised political action.

A Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, is generally a detailed process for checking and updating electoral rolls. It is meant to establish who should remain registered and correct inaccurate entries. The source describes SIR as controversial but does not explain its official procedure, so this definition uses established general knowledge.

The key mechanism is inclusion or exclusion. If an eligible voter’s name is missing, removed, or not confirmed during the revision, that person may be unable to vote. Changes to addresses, identity details, or eligibility can therefore have direct consequences for participation in elections.

The women interviewed treated SIR as part of a wider political crisis. Sahar placed losing voting rights alongside sexual violence and police abuse. The protests show why voter-roll revisions matter: an administrative exercise can become a question of democratic access, especially when people fear marginalised groups may be excluded.

Women’s participation was substantial and appeared to be growing. The article reports that women joined the protests in large numbers, while Mariam Dhawale said even more may have participated this time than during earlier paper leak protests. Their involvement continued across different causes.

The protests described took place in Delhi and Pune. The article discusses agitations in July and October, including a Delhi protest near INA Market on October 10. Women also continued from protests against violence against women into demonstrations opposing SIR. Scroll interviewed protesters in both cities.

Photos and videos showed police dragging or hauling away protesters, many of them young women. Some women reported groping and beatings. Ananya was detained on October 10 and returned the next day. The accounts indicate sustained participation despite serious risks to safety.

Force, groping, and intimidation can make peaceful protest physically dangerous. They can also produce fear and trauma, especially when directed at young women. Such conduct threatens not only bodily safety but also the practical ability to exercise the right to protest and speak publicly.

Ananya climbed onto a detention bus near INA Market. As crowds closed in, a policeman shoved his pelvis against her while she held onto the vehicle. Other women tried to push him away. Other protesters described being dragged, bodily hauled away, groped, or beaten by police.

The article suggests intimidation may be intended to discourage women from returning. Ananya said officials might think trauma would keep women away, but she returned the next day. Instead of ending participation, mistreatment can deepen anger and strengthen collective resistance, while raising wider concerns about public safety and state power.

The women interviewed learned politics through daily inequalities. Dhanashri watched her brother receive a bicycle, better schooling, and more food, while she was told to adjust. Swapnaja saw her father frequently hit her mother. These experiences made gender power personal before they became organised political ideas.

Dhanashri later joined a student federation and understood her anger as opposition to patriarchy. Swapnaja was troubled by the contrast between rich and poor. During the Covid-19 lockdown, she volunteered with migrant workers who were denied the ability to earn a livelihood with dignity. That experience led her to join the Stree Mukti League.

Family conflict, violence against women, inequality, and livelihood insecurity pushed both women toward collective action. Their stories show political awakening as a gradual process. Personal injustice created questions, while student groups, volunteering, and women’s organisations supplied language, community, and a way to act.

The protests involve several political and civic actors. Young women protest through student groups and broader movements. Left-aligned organisations help develop political understanding and collective action. Women’s organisations connect individual experiences of violence and discrimination with wider campaigns for equality and liberation.

Ananya belongs to the All India Students Union. Dhanashri joined the New Students and Youth Federation, while Swapnaja coordinates the Stree Mukti League in Pune. The All India Democratic Women’s Association, represented by Mariam Dhawale, interpreted women’s growing participation. Police detained, pushed, dragged, and allegedly groped or beat protesters.

The government is challenged over the SIR and over its treatment of women. Sahar criticised the gap between the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” message and women being beaten by police. These actors create a struggle over who defines democracy, whose safety matters, and whether protest is protected or suppressed.

Patriarchy describes the unequal power that shapes women’s lives, beginning in families and extending into institutions. Democracy matters because people need equal political voice and the freedom to challenge injustice. State power matters because police and government decisions can either protect those freedoms or restrict them.

Dhanashri’s brother received better treatment at home, while she was told to adjust. Later, police allegedly dragged, groped, beat, or intimidated women protesters. Sahar connected sexual violence, SIR, and voting rights, showing how private safety and public citizenship can converge in one political argument.

The article presents protest as a way to challenge these connected forms of power. Women demand safety, independence, equality, and fair elections together. Their continued participation, despite mistreatment, suggests that democratic struggles may grow when people recognise personal discrimination as part of wider institutional injustice.