Abstract

Social movements in India have long been engines of transformative change acting as both reflections of structural discontent and instruments for democratic assertion. From pre-independence peasant revolts to contemporary mass mobilizations India’s rich tradition of public agitation underscores the participatory nature of its democracy. This paper explores the trajectory of significant social movements in India focusing on the Chipko movement of the 1970s and the Shaheen Bagh protest of 2019–2020. These two movements emerging in vastly different historical contexts reflect the evolving concerns of Indian society—from environmental conservation and rural rights to constitutional safeguards and minority protection. The paper examines the ideological foundations modes of mobilization state responses and societal impact of these movements. Through a comparative and historical lens it highlights how nonviolent mass mobilizations rooted in grassroots activism continue to challenge dominant p