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Don’t let situation to deteriorate

Young Bites. Dated: 2/12/2018 12:32:59 PM

The citizens’ right to protest is a pillar of Indian democracy. While citizens are allowed to peacefully assemble, however, protests and demonstrations sometimes take a violent turn. Recent examples are the Jat protests in Haryana and the Kashmir unrest following the death of militant leader Burhan Wani, both in 2016. During such occasions, it is the prerogative of the Indian state to deal with the violent civil protests in a manner that ensures public order and protects citizens from harm. While the two mass actions differed in both their causes and intended goals, they were nonetheless similar in that the state government’s response to the protests was heavily criticised. Security forces were criticised for their use of excessive force against a crowd that engaged in stone-pelting and arson. The use of pellet guns to disperse the crowd caused over 90 deaths and injured many others. These events raised questions on the overarching strategy and effectiveness of India’s crowd-control measures—issues which are not new but remain relevant to this day.No religion commands violence. No religion encourages ruthlessness, selfishness, lovelessness and massacre. Violence and the conditions that pave the way for violence develops when ideologies that promote conflict replace the moral values of religion that sees people as equal servants created by God and praises modesty, patience, compassion and unrequited love. The West also has some responsibilities to end the violence; it can be honest and take the first step by recognizing the pains caused by the policies they have followed since the beginning of the 20th century. When this is done, the West can also see that it is an irrational method to attempt to shape the Muslim world in line with their own interests. No doubt, every state first thinks about the welfare of its citizens and country; however, they must know that when they do this in a manner that ignores the rights of others and treats them callously, it will generate a backlash as surely as night follows day. The only way to solve these problems created by the mistakes of the last century is to build a new civilization. The violence that has of late become the resort of some workers in the country is counterproductive and does not serve any of the parties involved. Resorting to violence as a method for highlighting grievances, protest or objection does not end problems of demonstrating workers but complicates them further.