Democracy & Protests

Democracy and protests have become synonymous concepts in our nation. In fact, to be negatively critical of the system at hand seems like the only way to showcase one's credible socialist leanings. And to criticize what's wrong with the government seems like the most fashionable way of registering one's intellectual capacity.

Many 'protests' in various forms - symbolic and out-on-the-streets raised voices. This note follows as a continuum of the past note that investigated a subjective and lived experience. The overwhelming texts, messages, calls and requests have phenomenally inspired immense introspection within me and the issue at hand. It was a conscious attempt on my part to distance my voice from the onslaught of this language of alleged 'protest' and 'democratic dialogue'. I shall try to investigate what are the problematics within the scenario and why it is so.

Let us agree as Nilanjana Roy says in her recent article on Kafila that the protest voices at India gate, Jantar Mantar, Raisina Hills, Rashtrapati Bhavan, and Janpath are more or less directionless and vague. But my disagreement lies in the constant justification of the echoes in the article and elsewhere as central and definitive of the idea of democracy and free speech. How free should free speech be needs a check? And yes, it requires a monitoring mechanism - either developed by state for conservationists (limitations to Freedom of Expression in the Article 19 of the constitution) or non-state values for communists or ethical, rational and logical loops for the anti-ism lobby. We must remember that we reside in no Plato’s Republic guided by purely poetic principles but we live in a real politic scenario where putting a name to our nationality is central to our agreement of being a part of this system. By default, we must abide by certain codes till the time they change and are brought as transformed alter egos. We should and must participate in the process of bringing about a change but that ought to be done respecting the constitutional limitations to freedom. After all this is what being civilized means – to be able to respect and appreciate constructively the culture of the civilization at hand.

What binds the cacophony of the protests is pure emotional outburst against a systemic malaise that the psychology of rape, especially gang rape, has become. Kudos to the awareness quotient but one needs a serious look at where the energy of the huge mass intends to fritter away. 

The demand for justice for the victim of this heinous crime is being met rather too fast for the speed barometer record of our judiciary and police department. Not only has the investigation been quite impressive but the nabbing of the criminals also well coordinated and fast. It is a mockery of our ill framed demand right on the face of the placards we seem to hold. We must realize that we are not Saudi Arabia and that the process of justice delivery shall happen within certain protocols - the very same that we expect from the institutions we attack. Also, the state is, at large, outraged at the act and committed to channelize its service delivery mechanism into constructive conclusions soon enough. Let us not get overwhelmed by the euphoric chest thumping, lung cracking cat calls of the ‘silent’ and ‘non-violent’ protests. They are sensitive to the issue but not necessarily ethical, humanitarian, logical and rational in their ‘demands’.

The ideas behind gang rape are much beyond the limited confines of violence. Unlike isolated cases of rape where subjective grudge and inflamed passion against the victim are often the raison d’être, gang rapes are ideological and well planned within the fabric of entrenched patriarchy. Off late, the demographics of gang rapists has emerged as largely those who are visibly disturbed and at times stupefied by the presence of assertive and confident women in the work spaces and public sphere erstwhile occupied by their male hormones. This systemic problem/ trend, then, is much beyond the speedy address of any government. It needs, instead, a concerted and consistent social and sociological commitment with apt political and legislative efforts to release the toxin gradually.

 Logically and rationally, the agitation stands nowhere to address any situation. Rather, it aggravates the already festering instance of lawlessness out on the streets. To stone pelt the police, to abuse the men in uniform and chest thumping sloganeering is nothing but a lewd attempt to grab limelight when the brokers and pimps of two minutes of fame are ready with their cameras and microphones all over the elitist places of protest.

The demographics and the modus operandi of the protesters are equally disturbing. Instead of bunking classes to protest for something which is essentially their doing, they would do much better by monitoring their own conduct around women – covertly and overtly. I doubt the sincerity of the ‘movement’ because why is it that the defenders of justice and women safety choose to march with a candle at 3pm from Laxmi Nagar when it is out in the open that post 9 and 10 pm the place literally transforms into a den for open sex racket. Why can not the ‘sincere’ protesters, the men in the clan, undertake night vigils and patrols around places like Dwarka and Mahipalpur than climbing on the poles near Rashtrapati Bhavan to get a love bite from media camera flashes? Why resort to token gestures at select places of power? Why are the margins of dingy lanes of Delhi abandoned? Why cannot Chandni Chowk and Mahipalpur roads be waxed by the peaceful candles? Is it a protest drive or a fashion parade on a seemingly romantic date inspired by Rang de Basanti?

The symbols and language of protests and marches has increasingly become a fad these days. Post Arab Spring, Jasmine Revolution, agitations at the Tahrir Square, protests at Wall Street the fashion of loud sloganeering has caught up as frenzied mania. But we need to see if we want a directionless mob to annihilate and leave the shambles for later rot or look for patient yet perseverant cures for malignant tumors as deeply entrenched as rape.