Protests were about accountability. For that, India’s Gen Z will have to keep asking hard questions

When Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as education minister on July 25, the students who had occupied Jantar Mantar wept and embraced. For many protesters, Pradhan’s resignation was seen as the first step towards accountability. There are already signs that accountability, in this fuller sense, is not what the government has in mind. Reactive questions allow the government to choose the terms of its answer, unlike proactive questions, which is why these are never invited but are worth asking. While the streets are still watching, it is among the first of proactive questions this generation must ask and certainly not the last.