History is a record of past events, and the story of past which helps in depicting the future. The independent movement in India witnessed a mass boycott and protest seeking free India. The spread of the movement was so high that the students boycotted colleges, women stood in forefront, workers and peasants went on strikes. History of Right to Protest during colonial times:
Swadeshi Movement, Quit India Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement, picketing etc were done by Indians as a part of Right to Protest. British back then had not recognised socio- legal right of Indians to protest. It was put a bar through Rowlatt Act (1919) and Prevention of Seditious Meeting act (1911). It was through Gandhi-Irwin Pact that the Indians succeeded in gaining the right for diluted and peaceful protest. The new India, in its constitution adopted the Right to Speech and Assemble without Arms, Form Association and move freely throughout the territory through Article 19(1)(a), 19(1)(b), 19(1)(c) and 19(1)(d) of the Constitution. All these legitimised the Freedom of Protest and Expression with certain reasonable restrictions.
The repeating historic graph:
Post Independent Indian protests and mass movements were region specific and the reflection of past mass mobilisation was no where seen until the recent years. It was first the 1975 emergency that shook the country for couple of years and had heard disapprovals. Today’s leaders who were students back then expressed dissent through protests. Arun Jaitley who was the then leader of Akhila Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad is said to have burnt the dummy statue of the then Prime Minister.
Post emergency, the way of reflection of Independence Movement is witnessed through Farmers Protest 2020 – 21 and the protest against CAA and NRC. The tug-of-war on claiming the denied right for Hijab too has seen mass mobilisation. And currently, Once again students, women, peasants and workers are out on streets. Students are boycotting colleges in the name of denied rights, peasants and workers have extended hands in the struggle of students. Almost every instance of a paradigm shift in the past has been due to the culmination of some protests, says a famous line. What change in Socio- Political scenario will the repeated historic instances bring in will be answered with evolving time.
Let’s learn to dissent. Right to Liberty is always the check on State and so are citizens the watch dog of the Government. Maintaining public order and claiming one’s right is an act of a dutiful citizen which will bore fruitful results.
Image by Mikhail Mamontov
