Historian Links Gandhi’s Satyagraha to Smartphone-Era Youth Protest

Mridula Mukherjee gave a talk about peaceful protests.

She compared Gandhi’s protests with a recent youth protest at Jantar Mantar.

Gandhi believed many ordinary people could make change without using violence.

Peaceful crowds could make the government look weak if it ignored them or harsh if it attacked them.

The young protesters used sit-ins, songs, jokes, slogans and fasting.

They also refused to leave when police ordered them to go home.

Smartphones let protesters record events and share what happened.

Police action brought more young people, parents, food and donations to the protest.

Mukherjee said she was studying what this kind of protest might mean for the future.