‘People cannot be reduced to shadows without a voice’

“THE STATE IS TODAY TRYING TO ROB US OF THE RIGHT TO DISSENT”

Lawyer-turned-environmental activist with Greenpeace; Priya Pillai, 39, is known for her vocal opposition to the Mahan coal block allocated to Essar Energy and Hindalco in Madhya Pradesh; famously offloaded from a flight to London for ‘acting against national interest’; staunch defender of rights of marginalised communities; currently trying to highlight the ill effects of polluting energy sources

Freedom is an idea that is quintessential to the evolution of human civilisation. But historically, as we have always seen, this is a concept that has been manipulated and redefined by the powerful to favour people with vested interests. It is the power or right of an individual or society to act, speak, or think as it wants. Freedom to dissent which is an integral part of the concept of freedom, cannot be separated from it. In a democratic society, this freedom is associated with liberty, equality, and the right to express one’s ideas. The state cannot dictate terms and say that everyone is free, but is banned from expressing their disagreement with us. Successive governments turned out to be watchdogs of the elite which led to gross inequality and lack of political representation of views of the majority who are voiceless. Quiet justifiably, the state senses and fears the discontent of those who have been treated unfairly. When one’s forests and lands are forcibly taken away and one is thrown to the mercy of some urban ghetto, then freedom has only one expression—dissent.

Our so-called citadels of development—big dams, mines and industries—are a grim reminder of the rights that have been snatched away in the name of development. Participation of people in the system, their right to dissent and to form organisations to critically or completely oppose the government are naturally inherent factors that are important for any democratic structure to work and thrive. It is important that we stand up and speak up for each other. The right to dissent and to demonstrate it at democratic forums, is dwindling day by day. The politics of hatred has paved the way for the politics of bans, so much so that we are being forced to go to courts to fight for the rights that have been guaranteed to us by the Constitution. There cannot be democracy and freedom when people are reduced to shadows without a voice.

(As told to Ursila Ali)