Our Indian society is driven by many values that are guiding forces for many generations including ours. Being a democracy we enjoy many rights and privileges. One of which is the provision to protest against the government for its decisions or practices that many not be in sync with the larger sections of the society. Sometimes minority sections of our society do need to express their views. When we feel our views or concerns are not heard by the people in power, we make a desperate attempt to reach out to the government which has owed to safeguarded out interests in the favor of our nation and society. The desperate attempt can lead to a protest and we should only protest in a peaceful way as we are constituently abiding citizens.
Are street protests good and good enough?
Our younger generation tends to find solution to many systemic problems that are rooted in the society by taking the protests to the streets. These protests are meant to bring to notice a particular issue which needs attention and an immediate action to resolve. Such street protests are good to the extent they make governments aware that we the people are watching and can demand for solutions, after all it’s us who elected the leaders, and they are our representatives. While we know that taking to street is always a good way to ensure we are heard of our concerns, it is not good enough to arrive at credible solutions. It’s like freedom can be fought, but constitution should be written. There are rules of engagement for everything and democracy in a pluralistic society like ours would work only through dialogue and deliberation, definitely not by disruption.
Our generation should understand the finer differences between protests and disruptions. Protests can lead to great public inconvenience if they are not done peacefully. The place we select to protest may cause disruption to many of our own people who need to go for work or attend to emergencies. We should not block privileges of our fellow citizens while we fight for ours. We need to look at protests in a very responsible and inclusive manner. However, the tendency or the design of any mass protest is being unfortunately designed to find the people attention then the governments concerned or to cause inconvenience to our people other than finding government’s attention to the issue in discussion.
Satyagraha and Grammar of Anarchy
Our constitution talks about the ‘Grammar of Anarchy’. This phrase is given by our own Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. He suggests staying away from Satyagrahas and public protests if we need to bring the constitution fully force. Constitution should be the higher most respected by us along with the parliament that safeguards the democracy. There are responsible ways of achieving things one of which is responsible voting using the electoral platform given to us by the constitution. Constructive dialogue can bring about many changes which is the way our youth should progress towards. Right to Information act was perfect example which was achieved through series of consultative dialogues between the government, social groups and legal experts.
We are a diversified society and dialogue alone should prevail over disruptions. Meaningful and responsible protests are welcome and they are part of our culture.
