The Myth of Peaceful Protest

Posted on by Rudrajyoti Nath Ray

538 is the number of former students of National Law School of India University, Bangalore [NLSIU] who ‘demanded’ repeal of The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 [CAA]. They extended unconditional support to all those who choose to exercise their fundamental right to speech and assembly to ‘express dissent peacefully’.

402 is the number of former students of National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata [NUJS] who, on 17.12.2019 at 21:14:13,  ‘appealed’ to the Government of India to respect the fundamental right to ‘peaceful protest’.

Bar&Bench described the numbers as ‘significant’. The effort of NLISU and NUJS alumni must be appreciated.  Hereby, 940 dissociate themselves from any views supporting CAA.

“The uncertainties in life are so uncertain for us to determine the kind woe we shall be entangled in in the next future.“

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It is unconstitutional to pick up a peaceful protestant and to put him behind the prison bars. However, there is a disconcerting rise in protests, on moral grounds, in particular, using threats. Unruly groups and violent demonstrations are so common that people have come to see them as an appendage of Indian democracy. Nobody has the right to become a self-appointed guardian of the law and forcibly administer his or her own interpretation of the law on others. Such acts of violence highlight a deeper malaise, one of intolerance towards others’ views which then results in attempts to suppress alternate view-points. Indeed, the people who perpetrate such actions do so without fear of consequence and reprisal. In such situations, the authorities must step and ensure that law-enforcement agencies exercise their power to bring the guilty parties to book and imposing time-bound and adequate punishment for any lapses. This, in turn, exacerbates public anger.

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An expectation is a prediction about the outcome of one’s behavior. Hon’ble Supreme Court of India shall, in due course, interpret CAA. NLSIU and NUJS alumni cannot finally conclude. The intention of most to become Hon’ble Judges is i) meaningless; ii) a questionable precedent and iii) a possible creator of misinformation.

“All in all it’s just another brick in the wall
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.“

Protest

'The Last Word' seeks to include not only wise and witty sayings but also curiosities. These words are not of obligation but of delight. I am not alone in my refusal to believe, law is tedious. For all who escaped these percipient eyes, mea culpa maxima. History, after all, has many cunning passages, contrived corridors and issues.