Protesters: Heroes or Villains?

                                                                                                   

The author of this article Prajakta Panda, is a law student at University Law College, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

‘One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust law’. 

-Martin Luther King JR

One has a moral responsibility to disobey an unjust law, but ‘lawfully’. This statement can only make the word ‘protests’ not sound vicious. We are living in a society with people of contrasting mindsets and distinctive visions. To make us live together we have formed ‘governments’. Laws are formed to give society an appropriate work system and to help people live peacefully without killing each other. But can a man resist if the government he built overrides his freedom and take away all his rights? Never, human beings all around the world are rebellious to everything they think that could hinder their rights. So, when a government goes out of their hands, people tend to take things to their hands, they protest.

The 20^th century has witnessed a global uptick in the protest activity. It is clear we are living in an unprecedented movement. People are protesting for climate emergency, global warming, ecological breakdown, global financial crisis, deepening inequality, growing threats, war, infringement of basic human rights, undemocratic government policies, and many more which we are unaware off because it’s not dramatic enough for the media to cover.

State’s obligation to right to protest:

1.      Respect the right to protest: they shouldn’t prevent, hinder or restrict the right to protest except to the extent allowed by international human rights law.

2.      Protect the right to protest: they should undertake reasonable steps to protect those who want to exercise their right to protest. This includes adopting measures necessary to prevent violations by 3^rd parties.

3.      Fulfill the right to protest:  they should establish an enabling environment for the full enjoyment of the right to protest. This includes providing effective remedies for the violation of all Human Rights embodied in the right to protest. This includes providing effective remedies for the violation of all Human Rights embodied in the right to protest. (Right to protest principles, 2016)

Thousands of people took part in the Hong Kong protest, initially was peaceful, which then turned violent after radical protesters gathered outside the legislature and began throwing bricks and petrol bombs at police lines. Dozens of people were injured. (Griffiths, 2019). Several people have been injured in southern Sri Lanka during a protest against allowing China to build a port and industrial zone. (BBC, 2017). The Indian High Commissions in London was gripped with fresh protests over the issue of Jammu and Kashmir that turned violent after damages were caused to the building premises. (ANI, 2019) . Delhi violence: Threatened, confronted and attacked women journalists face the ugly side of riots. (Journalism, 2020). CAA protests turn violent in New Delhi: 1cop and 5 persons died, 60 injured. (KalingaTVbureau, 2020).

 If there is an absence of a peaceful protest, though limited still there is a certain restriction in the international law:

1.      If the restriction is prescribed by law: If the particular action is in breach of law and to access the likely consequences of any breach. In such kinds of actions, the government is bound to impose a restriction.

2.      Peruses a legitimate aim:  any restriction must be shown by the government to have the genuine purpose and demonstrable effect of protecting a legitimate aim, either the protection of national security, public order (ordre public); the protection of public health or morals, or the protection of rights and freedom of others. The rights to freedom of assembly and association may also be restricted to protect public safety.

3.      National security: maybe to protect a country’s existence or its territorial integrity against the use of threat or force whether from an external or internal source. (Right to protest principles, 2016)

Nowadays, the protest is a sentimental term for people worldwide. Participants are more likely to endorse violent protests when they moralise an issue. In the exuberance of such sentiments, we generally tend to forget what’s right in any sense.  In the 20^th century countries worldwide have witnessed protests every day on every issue. Individuals come together to try and recruit, persuade and inspire others to fight for their rights and make the government answerable.  The problem in protests lies when people tend to obliterate the very meaning of protests. Protests to people with sentiments mean ‘strong complaint, expressing, disapproval or opposition’, or ‘a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something’. In this meaning of protests, there’s a lack of legality. The legal way to look into protests is ‘a formal declaration whereby a person expresses a personal objection or disapproval of an act’. ‘Formal declaration’ and ‘approaching violently’ are the phases that completely change the face of any protest. The legality of any protest purely depends on the nature one decides to protest.

What are protests meant for?

1.      They help society to change. Social change is very essential for the development of the human race. If people tend to follow the things that are a hindrance to their development the society in total may not develop.

2.      Protests help in the protection of the rights of all the people in the society.

3.      We tend to see different protests across the world. Before such protests, we are all unaware of the particular issue. The importance reflected through protests makes the citizens aware of what is going wrong and what needs to be done.

4.      The democratic government works by the representatives that people choose. The relationship between the people and the representatives is strengthening through protests.

5.      People in protests come together, work together and raise their voice towards any particular change. They make the government answerable about their laws and working process.

6.      The marginalized section of the society and the poor benefit a lot from protests. In the present day, people of that section are being benefited by all the laws that are available to them after a long struggle.

One has to analyze the proper stance and the situations before protesting.

What do we need to know before protesting?

Let’s discern it with a legal perspective. The question is how can one legally protest?

1.      Audi Alteram Partem: This maxim means that both the parties in the court have the right to be heard. Similarly, we are the judges when we come across a protest. We need to hear the stories of both the parties. Taking sides and supporting the unjust is our duty but without knowing about the issue and blindly following the crowd may even make us responsible for something wrong.

2.      Animus Nocendi: Intention to harm. Being a protester one should only have the intention to benefit the people and to remove the unjust and should not have the thought to harm the government.

3.      Contra Bonas Mores: The actions that a protesting group performs should be within the morals of society.

4.      Contra Legem: Against the Law: The foremost thing the protester needs to keep in mind is that they should do all they want but should not exceed the laws. The very instant they break the law, the protest becomes ugly.

5.       Prius Quam Exaudias Ne Ludices: Before you here don’t judge: if you want to be a part of a protesting group or even start a protesting group first make yourself aware of all the facts about the concerned issues. Lack of facts and coming to the conclusion can be very misleading for the group of protestors. (latestlaws.com)

Media in the 20^th century: Protests and media are a great combination of being both hazardous and beneficial. Extreme movements can emerge through social networks (Dehghani). People all across the world morally converge in the platform and start sharing their views, gain support and then form groups to achieve their desired goals. Many protests of the 20^th century have been successful and the main backbone for them was the media. But a very serious issue regarding media is, sometimes they tend to mislead people. Media spreads violence through false news, false posts, only to gain one-sided support. Fake news is spread among heated groups through Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook and many other social media platforms to provoke them. Many times due to such manipulation, the government fails to control the heated crowds. In such a case everyone only has one aim, which is to, destroy. And then we witness the loss of lives and properties. These situations are what we need to prevent. 

How can a protest be good and effective?

1.      There’s proper planning of the protest.

2.      The participants follow common courtesy and decency.

3.      The protest should not create a national threat.

4.      The participants should respect private and public property.

5.      The protest should observe all laws.

Citizens must take the role of the protagonist by demanding and defending their rights, but peacefully, legally and effectively. “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ~Buckminster Fuller. Protesting non-violently; both our right and responsibility.