THE UNCIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Right from the start, the farmers’ protest was peculiar. Whether or not the protests were justified is a different issue, what we saw was an uprising that set an example of how people could voice their dissent peacefully without resorting to violence. It was a breath of fresh air after the mindless means of protesting that we saw in February last year. But unfortunately, all of that goodwill was lost on the 72nd Republic Day of India when farmers decided to carry out a peaceful tractor rally in Delhi and NCR to promote their cause — a written assurance of the MSP and cancellation of the three farm laws.
During the Supreme Court hearings on the ongoing protests, the Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde expressed his concern that allowing a tractor rally on Republic Day could spark violence. The Attorney General K.K. Venugopal had said that maintaining peace and order on the congested roads of Delhi will be difficult if 5000 tractors are brought in. Even the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had urged the SC to ask farmer unions to put off the tractor rally because “extraneous and outside elements and ideologies have taken over the agitation”. Despite these legitimate concerns, advocate Prashant Bhushan assured the Court on 20th Jan that the tractor rally will be on the Outer Ring Road to celebrate Republic Day and will not breach the peace. How the event unfolded, however, was there for the entire world to see.
Delhi Police and farmer unions mutually agreed upon certain rules to be followed during the rally, 37 in total. And almost all of these rules were violated. The timing of the rally was supposed to be from 12 pm to 5 pm, after the Republic Day parade. A cap on the number of tractors was also put in place and a designated route was set for the rally. It was also decided that no display of force or brandishing of weapons will be tolerated. However, all these rules were thrown under the bus. The protesters began clashing verbally with the police as early as 6:30 am on the 26th in Ghazipur. What followed was a slew of violations wherein protestors forcefully barged in through Ghazipur, Singhu, and Tikri borders while the Parade was still going on.
It continued to go downhill as the so-called farmers continued to march ahead, leaving destruction in their wake. Mobs carrying lathis, rods, swords, stones, etc destroyed over 40 DTC buses, uprooted railings, and broke road dividers. One protester lost his life as his tractor toppled upon colliding with a barricade. Fake news about him being shot by the police was also propagated fervently. The aggravated assault against policemen led to 300 personnel being hospitalised. Even female police officers were not spared. The ITO turned into a battleground as the police restricted the mob from heading towards the parliament. The mob then split into two parts, with one marching towards the Red Fort and the other staying on Vikas Marg.
The rioting on the Red Fort was a sight to behold. It was unlike anything the country had ever seen. As pointed out by the Prime Minister in his recent Mann Ki Baat radio address, “India was saddened by the insult to Tricolour on Republic Day”. The rioting mob barged into the Red Fort, vandalised some of its rooms, and forcefully hoisted the Nishan Sahib on a minaret beside the Tricolour. While the Nishan Sahib flag is sacred and venerable, Republic Day is all about the Tricolour since it captures the spirit of the entire country like none other. Hoisting any other flag near it on Republic Day is an insult to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for freedom and national integrity. What was even more shocking was that some of the rioters were seen carrying Khalistan flags, communist flags, etc which clearly showed that the Solicitor General’s assessment was accurate. What started as a protest against farm bills had now turned into something entirely different.
There is a section of the media that is arguing that there is nothing wrong with hoisting a different flag since it is sacred to the Sikh community. First of all, the incumbent government did not bring a law against the Sikh community particularly. The laws were about the farmers, and so were the protests. It is surprising how even an agricultural issue could transition into a religious issue so smoothly. Secondly, the same media which says that there is nothing wrong with hoisting a sacred flag on a national monument calls people fascists whenever the Bhagwa is brought into the limelight or when “Jai Shree Ram” chants are heard. I seriously wonder if these media houses would defend the rioters similarly had they been Hindus.
Another popular narrative doing rounds is the alleged hypocrisy of Hindus who supported climbing atop the Babri Masjid and its eventual demolition but are opposing the march towards the Red Fort. What I fail to understand is that when did this become a competition? Some media houses showed how the rath yatra in 1992 did “greater damage to the nation” than the recent protests. While that may be true, this information is simply irrelevant and the only reason why it’s being fed to us is to fuel the “us v/s them” mentality and somehow downplay the mess created on the 26th.
The thing that hurt the most was that none of the major political or farmers’ leaders were to be seen either at the Red Fort or at any other place where the violence was rampant. The law and order situation of the city needs to be questioned thoroughly. Delhi Police, which reports to the centre did not look in control of the situation until it was too late. It is the responsibility of the central government to ensure that law and order are maintained properly in Delhi, a job that they’ve been consistently failing at.
Amid this absolute pandemonium, a section of farmers led by Yogendra Yadav marched on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, Masani, and Nuh peacefully, sparking hopes that the actual agenda is still alive. Even if the mob in Delhi consisted of some bad elements who had nothing to do with farmers’ protests, it should have been the responsibility of the farm leaders to calm the mob down since the followers were, in most cases, misguided youths. I believe that the reason why no major leader came forward was to save themselves from any future probe into their possible involvement in the riots. Therefore, they decided to steer clear of it.
While the aggressive and coercive law-making nature of the government should not be condoned, it is the fundamental duty of the protestors “to safeguard public property and to abjure violence” as per Article 51A of the constitution. Also, as per Article 19(1)b, the protestors must gather peacefully and without arms. This, however, was blatantly violated in the recent protests, especially by Nihang Sikhs who waved swords at people fearlessly.
In the wake of recent violence and maligned image of the protests, farmers have decided to put off the march towards the parliament, earlier scheduled to take place on 1st February. Protesters must realise that violence and vandalism only discredit a legitimate mass movement. They help neither the agitators nor their cause. Therefore, leaders must take responsibility and ensure that the fellow protesters don’t go haywire. It can only be hoped that the farmers will once again earn that trust and goodwill as time goes on. A recent clip of Rakesh Takait breaking down and threatening to hang himself if the laws are not repealed may look like a publicity stunt, but it seems to have struck a chord with the farmers all around the country. The overwhelming support for him has led to more and more farmers flocking towards Delhi and swelling up the borders. Prime Minister has reassured the farmers that his government is still open for dialogue and is willing to suspend the farm laws for 18 months, but the farmers seem to be relentless. With several state elections lined up, it will be interesting to see how everything plays out.
-By Nimish Aggarwal
Originally published at http://5pvit.wordpress.com on February 1, 2021.
