Right to protest is sacred

The Supreme Court has rightly reemphasised that the right to peaceful protest is crucial to democracy. A country famous for Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement, that was instrumental in the British leaving in 1947, can hardly believe such a key fundamental right can be denied, or even abridged. No nation’s leaders can afford to distance themselves from the people by restricting their right to dharnas and demonstrations. Also, those protesting for various causes can’t be excluded in any way from the national mainstream. The ruling may be specific to protests in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, which were disallowed after the NGT objected, saying the protests were causing discomfort to residents. The ruling lays down that the dharnas/protests be held in such a way that they don’t inconvenience citizens. But it should apply equally to upholding the right to peaceful protests across the country.

In most state capitals, a place is earmarked for people to hold protests. The Jantar Mantar issue had to do with it being a central location in Delhi and thus more likely to disrupt normal life. But that is no reason to stop demonstrations altogether. It’s another matter that most protests these days tend to be less than peaceful, and the police has a tough time controlling them. However, it’s the duty of governments to recognise the right to dissent, which is a way in which a citizen demands accountability from rulers. Such a right can neither be curtailed nor throttled by coercive means as has happened in a state like Tamil Nadu, where life has been punctuated with protests over the past few years.