TThe Congress recently announced the launch of ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’, a campaign to commemorate the 75th year of the Constitution. Hindutva’s ideologues have denigrated MK Gandhi, while their antipathy towards Dr. Br ambedkar became evident through the derogatory comments made by Interior Minister, Amit Shah, in Parliament. From this light, this campaign seems to be promising.
Since he came to power in Karnataka in 2023, the Government of Congress has indicated its commitment to the Constitution. He organized an international conference entitled ‘Constitution and National Unity’ in February 2024 and conducted mass celebrations in September 2024 to commemorate the International Day of Democracy and the main minister urged people to comply with constitutional values.
Despite these, a genuine commitment to democracy must be minimally ensured that everyone feels an active participant in an advisory process. Therefore, spaces for peaceful dissent should not be reduced. In 2021, the BJP government in Karnataka approved the license and regulation of protests, demonstrations and protest marches (city of Bengaluru), which makes public protests illegal outside a designated area. The reasons for these were that the “unauthorized way negatively affects the movement of traffic, which causes a huge vehicular congestion.” After order, protests in Bangalore have limited themselves to a small park ambushed by a parking lot; Ironically is called Freedom Park. The protests tried to be held anywhere else have met with police repressions and FIR.
The right to freedom of expression and the Pacific Assembly is a fundamental right (article 19). In fact, Satyagraha’s very idea or peaceful civil disobedience is one of India’s greatest contributions to the rest of the world. When the British forced the tenant farmers in the district of Bihar in the Champaran district to cultivate Indigo and were very penalized by any crop failures, Gandhi began the historic Champaran Satyagraha in 1917. He challenged the government’s orders to leave Champaran; This resistance led Champaran to relieve farmers. In 1923, the Bombay Legislative Council allowed people through castes to use places built and administered by the Government. However, the dalits were avoided by the Hindus of the caste to drink public tanks water. In Challenge, in 1927, Dr. Br Ambedkar took thousands of Dalits to walk towards Chavdar Tank in Mahad de Maharashtra and drank water from the tank in protest. These, among many others, have given the world a grammar of dissent.
The Government of Congress in Karnataka has continued the anti -democratic order approved in 2021. On August 15, 2022, 72 farmers who protested against the government acquisition of their lands in Devanahalli were arrested and fits were recorded against them. Numerous Pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested. The police slapped several people who gathered on the City Council steps in Bengaluru to protest against the assault of two manipuri women. The Superior Court of Karnataka annulled those FIR, but the process of fighting itself became a punishment. In 2023, on the birth anniversary of Gandhi, hundreds of citizens walked from the statue of Gandhi to Vidhana Soudha as a Satyagraha to claim the rights of the Pacific Assembly. They were arrested by the police and a FIR was presented against several people.
Although electoral manifestations and religious processions cause traffic, protest manifestations are only prohibited. Controlling traffic is a civic issue. The justification of the government that the protests maintained in a particular place cause traffic is unfounded. For example, protest through the City Council steps does not cause traffic. The true reason for traffic grunts is the exponential increase in private vehicles without a proportional increase in affordable and quality public transport. Pacific protests are usually the last resort for people when all appeals to the government fail. Therefore, using traffic as a reason to stop constitutional freedoms is antidemocratic.
If Congress wants to walk through the talk, it must revoke order 2021. Pacific protests are sites where the theater of democracy is held and its pedagogy is put to practice. While this is not done, the ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ campaign and other events seem to be mere topics.
Rajendran Narayanan teaches at Azim Premji University and is affiliated with Indian Libtech; Vinay Sreenivasa is a defender. The views are personal
Published – January 28, 2025 01:28 am ist