It’s time to fight for the right to make peaceful protests
THE largest protest ever known to man is taking place now in India. Headed by farmers across the country, it is in retaliation to proposed agricultural laws that seek to privatise the Indian agricultural market, without guaranteeing a minimum price for the crops. This means that, in time, private companies will be free to pay the farmers any price they wish, resulting in a high risk of exploitation of farmers.
Akin to the national minimum wage we have in the UK, Indian farmers currently receive a guaranteed minimum price for their crops from the government.
The security of the minimum price is not the only issue at stake here. During the passage of the proposed laws, Indian farmers were not meaningfully involved in the consultation stage. Instead, the government sought to push through the laws at a time where citizens were grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, and civic engagement on law reform was stripped back.
What followed was millions of farmers from across the country travelling to the capital to peacefully protest to ensure their voices were heard.
On December 13 last year, just over 100 Scottish citizens held a protest at the Indian Consulate in Edinburgh. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly – also known as the right to peacefully protest – is protected in our laws under the European Convention on Human Rights and, subsequently, UK Human Rights Act 1998. This means we have the right to hold peaceful static protests, marches, parades and processions, demonstrations, and rallies. The right is fundamental in any democratic society. Without it, we would be at the mercy of governments that, although elected by us, could not be challenged by us.
Over recent months, however, this fundamental yet fragile right has been stripped back, leaving a worrying precedent for the future of the right to peacefully protest.
So if people are protesting, then democracy is working right? Wrong. l In India, the peaceful protesters were met with rubber bullets and water cannons. Pictures of elderly Sikh men being beaten by the Indian state quickly circulated across social media, provoking an immediate reaction across the world. l Human rights activist Disha Ravi, was jailed for editing an online Google Docs toolkit informing citizens how they could raise their voice by tweeting and writing to their parliament representatives. l Nodeep Kaur, an activist who was also protesting in Delhi, was also thrown in jail, where she was beaten and sexually assaulted. l Journalists reporting on the protests have also been arrested by police under charges of sedition, criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity. l When R&B artist Rhianna issued a tweet questioning the action in India and climate change activist Greta Thunberg issued a tweet of support for the farmers, both received monumental backlash from the Indian state. Not only did they face a barrage of sexist abuse, but effigies of Rhianna and Greta were also burned, and videos posted online. An Indian arrest warrant has been issued against Ms Thunberg.
All of this for one aim – to delegitimise those protesting and silence anyone who speaks against the Indian state.
The delegitimisation of protesters could also be seen during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations last summer. Following the brutal killing of George Floyd in America at the hands of state police, millions across the globe joined protests to highlight police brutality and institutional racism within our society.
The US responded with riot police and plastic bullets and highlighted a small portion of police clashes over the much larger numbers of peaceful protesters. The aim was to silence those who speak against the state.
We are amid a global pandemic. Millions of lives have been tragically lost as governments across the world struggled to grapple control of this “invisible enemy”. The pandemic has been regarded by many as a legitimate reason to stop public protests on the street.
Instead, governments have asked the public to protest via other means, primarily through social media.
During the protests by Indian farmers, millions across the world have been posting stories and comments of support using set hashtags such as “#istandwithfarmers” and “#nofarmersnofood”.
But what happens when social media is also censored? Since the farmers started protesting, hundreds of Twitter accounts in India, including those of news websites, activists, and a farmers’ union have been suspended.
The internet around the protesting site in Delhi was cut off so protesters could not post and share online. Media watchdogs and rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have since condemned the Indian government’s actions as censorship.
I was one of the hundreds at the Edinburgh consulate protesting about the farmers’ laws in India. Not because I have a farm in India or am a farmer, but to protect the fundamental right to peacefully protest – be that on the pavement or social media platform.
In a world where vital decisions affecting the lives of millions are made by a privileged few, we need to be able to raise our voices and be heard. Each voice carries the arm of democracy, and democracy must not be silenced.