“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
―
For a year that started with a protest that was completely ignored and eventually throttled by the government, the centre agreeing to accept two out of four demands of farmers, is perhaps awakening for the Modi government.
It’s very fascinating to remember that even when India was entering 2020, there were people protesting on the streets. Now that the year is ending, there are still people out on streets protesting against the government for a different reason. No matter how testing the year has been due to the pandemic, Indian democracy has indeed been rejuvenated by its citizens. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government that enjoyed the confidence of people for its first term, resulting in a bigger victory in 2019 polls, saw large scale demonstrations held against their policies for the first time. It’s also very heartening to see that the same government which was not even willing to sit at discussion table with anti-CAA protesters, has now not only sat down with protesting farmers but also agreed on two demands out of four.
Anti-CAA Protests
The Citizenship Amendment Act came into being in December 2019. Protests against it erupted thereafter with Assam being the focus where protesters linked it with the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It did not take a long time for the protests to spread across the states, with massive protest rallies taking place in every corner of India, demanding to scrap of the discriminatory citizenship law and proposed register of citizenship. By January, the focus of the anti-CAA protests had shifted to Delhi, particularly at Shaheen Bagh. The women of Shaheen Bagh were hailed by many for the courage and resilience they showed. It is so much so that the Time magazine featured an 82-year-old Bilkis Bano – popularly called Dadi – as one of the most influential people.
During the US President Donald Trump’s visit to India, the protests in Delhi intesified, with supporters of the law confronting those against it. BJP leader Kapil Mishra led a rally in which he warned police personnel. Mishra, as seen in the viral video, said police should clear the streets soon where Anti-CAA protesters were sitting or else “we’ll do it in our way”.
Shortly after the heated confrontations, riots broke out in North-eastern Delhi, where at least 53 people lost their lives and around 200 were injured.
However, even after the violence, the protest continued. It was in the March that state and central governments started imposing restrictions in the wake of Covid-19. The protests broke off once lockdown was imposed.
Migrants On Streets
A sea of humanity turned up at Delhi’s Anand Vihar bus station after the lockdown-triggered mass migration intensified from the capital Delhi in March. Thousands of migrants turned up at the Anand Vihar bus station few days after lockdown triggered a mass migration from the national capital.
Defying the lockdown in place to contain the coronavirus , more than 1,000 migrant workers gathered outside the suburban Bandra railway station in April, demanding that the state government make transport arrangements so that they can go back to their native towns and villages.
Hundreds of migrant workers gathered in Surat in the same month, demanding that they be sent to their native places despite lockdown, police said. The migrant workers gathered in Varachha area of the city and sat on a road demanding that they be allowed to go to their native places, police said.
The whole country witnessed the migrants’ exodus, watching them so disllusioned with the system that they chose to walk back thousands of kilometres instead of staying put. After the outrage, the courts were told that there were no migrants walking on the roads and government has taken care of the matter. Despite the centre’s assurance, the migrants continued to move towards their hometowns. However, the situation did not come to the notice of the court, which believed in central government’s submission wholeheartedly.
Doctors and Health workers
Resident doctors and paramedical staff members from three North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run hospitals staged a protest at Jantar Mantar over not being paid their salaries for the last three months in October. The protestors belonged to Hindu Rao Hospital, Kasturba Hospital and Rajen Babu Tuberculosis Hospital.
Over 5,000 resident doctors from across the capital observed a symbolic strike from 10 am to 12 pm in solidarity with doctors who have not received salaries for the last four months.
Members of the staff of Kashibai Navale Medical College and General Hospital in Pune staged protest outside the hospital in May over alleged non payment of salaries of last 6 months (since December 2019).
At least 5,000 nurses and paramedic staff in one of India’s premier medical institute AIIMS went on an indefinite strike in December over “long-pending” demands, severely disrupting patient care during the coronavirus pandemic.
Around a million doctors in India went on a day-long strike in this month amid the coronavirus pandemic to protest against a new federal government rule that allows practitioners of the traditional science of Ayurveda to perform minor surgeries.
Students Against Unemployment
Unemployed youths and competitive examinees, including the railway and SSC aspirants, on the day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday i.e. September 17, observed ‘National Unemployment Day’ and banged thaalis in protest of growing unemployemnt and delay in government exam procedures. The students even trended hashtags on Twitter, due to lockdown restrictions, demanding accountability from the government over its treatment of students.
The August edition of his PM Modi’s flagship radio show Mann Ki Baat became the most disliked video on BJP’s YouTube channel within 24 hours after it was streamed, garnering over 6 lak dislikes. Soon after the episode was streamed, Mann_Ki_Nahi_Students_Ki_Baat started trending on Twitter. Many students on social media questioned Prime Minister Modi for not addressing the then ongoing issue of NEET/JEE students.
Farmers’ Protest- A Full Circle
As India enters 2021 with protesting farmers gathered outside Delhi borders, the country bids adiue to the year 2020, which started with a protest and is ending with another protest.
After the centre introduced new farm laws and rammed them through both the houses of parliament without discussions, protests erupted in Punjab and Haryana over the pieces of legislation. For two long months, farmers in Punjab tried to grab the centre’s attention by various means, even cutting off train services, only to be ignored by those in Delhi.
More than a month ago, thousands of farmers from both states started moving towards national capital to register their protests. Unaltered by the police using water cannons, tear gas and digging up the highways, placing barriers in the path of farmers, the protesters continued to move and recahed the borders of Delhi. Farmers, who had wanted to protest at Jantar Mantar or Ram Lila maidan, sat down at Delhi borders after government demanded to move their protest on Burari ground outside the city in order to inititate talks.
Farmers stress that the new laws will ultimately dismantle the MSP system and make the farmers vulnerable to exploitative corporate market forces.
The protest has received overwhelming response from across the world, with MPs in Britain and Canada raising the issue. Farmers from other states have also started moving towards Delhi to participate in the protest.
After the seventh round of talks between centre and farmers yesterday, centre has reportedly agreed on two out of four demands by the farmers. The next meeting between the farmers representative and central ministers is scheduled on 4th January.
The Pattern Broken
The current government has not handled protests well. Critics say that the Modi-led BJP has on each instance tried to label protesters Anti-Nationals, Urban-Naxals, Tukde-Tukde gang and what not. The pattern here is to discredit the protesters to ensure their side is not even heard properly. Pliable media is almost complicit in running narratives that label protesters as ‘people against the country’. This pattern works for the BJP most of the times. It’s also visible that it does not shy away from cracking down on protesters if the labelling doesn’t work. Footages from Jamia, and AMU during the ant-CAA protests showed how students were beaten and paraded by police force, and masked goons in case of JNU. The arrests made in the Delhi-riots case and the credibilty of Delhi Police’s investigation are topic of the whole new article.
However, the farmers’ protest in December, has remained unmoved by the name-calling and labelling by government and news channels. The protesters sitting at Delhi borders gleefully narrate that they have got ration for 6 months with them and are not moving back from Delhi untill the new laws are repealed. The international presure built by Sikh community outside India has only forced the Indian government to sit with farmers and resolve the issue.
For a year that started with a protest that was completely ignored and eventually throttled by the government, the centre agreeing to accept two out of four demands of farmers, is perhaps awakening for the Modi government that it cannot keep bringing in legislations without due consultations in a democractic manner.
The role of judicially remain limited to starting contempt proceedings against stand-up comics and cartoonists, while hundreds of important habeas corpus petitions concering human rights remain unheard in the apex court of justice.
However, the year goes to show that when all the institutions of democracy have let people down, they still choose to resist. The Indian democracy lives on as centre sits with farmers and listens to their grievances. Despite all odds, the power of people always wins over power of state.
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