“Without debate, without criticism , no administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive.” ― John F. Kennedy
Throughout its history, the world has witnessed a lot of protests, movement, marches, rallies, and other such forms of dissent and dissatisfaction. From the Indian independence movement demanding the freedom from years-long colonial rule in India to, the Selma to Montgomery marches which were also known as the civil right movement which called for the racial justice in the United States, the world has seen many such protests and movements which called for the betterment of the society and the tearing down of the status quo. Any kind of protest or a movement is a way in which the public expresses its dissatisfaction and discontent towards something prevailing in society, it can be against any government policy or societal norm which the public feels should be done away with.
Historically these protests haven’t been viewed positively by the authority that they questioned. Efforts to quash these protests by jailing the protesters, violent crackdowns by the armed forces, and implementation of laws hindering free speech and free expression have all been used in the past and are still the norm in many countries. But many of these protests have overcome these barriers and have been successful in achieving their goal. For instance, the Indian independence movement was met with a lot of opposition by the British rulers in India but the persistence and valor of the freedom fighters forced the colonial rulers to leave the Indian subcontinent. When we look at the civil rights movements in the US, photographs and video recording of police beating the protester in the streets of Alabama are horrifying but that didn’t scare off those fighting for equal rights. All in all despite the hardships and obstacles that protesters and protests have faced throughout history, the spirits and perseverance of those demanding change.
In recent times a new phenomenon is taking shape where protest and other forms of agitation have been dubbed anti-national and are seen as a mode of disruption and chaos rather than a form of public expression that they are, by those in authority and those against whom these protests are organized. Instances of protesters and marchers being beaten or being put in jail were common, but being beaten until death or being subject to open fire or victims of shoot-to-kill orders is very new and very dangerous. In September 2020, an Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari with international pedigree was executed for speaking against the Iranian regime during the 2018 protests drew outcry and criticism from all over the world. Iran isn’t the only country where citizens' right to protest doesn’t exist. Many other authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, and DPRK also prevent their citizens from criticizing the government or its officials. In countries where citizens do have the right to free speech and freedom of expression, exercising these rights is nowadays seen as anti-national which only disrupts the peace. This trend has become very prevalent in India where those protesting against the government or any law/bill passed are called disloyal to the Indian flag and treasonous to the country.
The odd thing is that in many protests the protesters wrap themselves in national symbols, they joyously embraced the national flag and sing the national anthem in their vociferous rallies. Rather than seeing the protest for what it stood for simply dismissed it as a protest fuelled by the “opposition” and “radicals”. Such gross misinterpretation of a massive pan mainstream movement is very dangerous to the survival of democracy and the fundamentals of free speech.
The citizens’ right to express their opinions freely is the key to the survival of any democracy. But when the society starts to misconstrue the objectives of those exercising these rights and start viewing them as threats to peace and normalcy that is when the real threat to the fundamental structure of society and democracy starts taking shape. One of the principal goals of the international community is to create a world where everyone has the right to express himself/herself freely, but when countries, where these rights are already in place, start putting restraints on citizens to exercise them, the world is surely taking the steps in the wrong direction.
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