OPEN MINDS Indian govt has no answers to peaceful protests

All these years in India, protests were led largely by men, and of late often by young students. The ruling party tried always to absolve itself of blame when the police used excessive force, with the unconvincing excuse that the police had acted independently to maintain peace and order.

But Shaheen Bagh was a turning point in India’s history of protests, a watershed moment in civil disobedience since M.K. Gandhi. Shaheen Bagh was spearheaded by women who sat in protest and as the days wore by, people from many communities joined in and protested through songs and prayer offerings. This style of demonstration spread across the country and continued gaining momentum. Parts of North East Delhi witnessed similar sit-ins by women.

Now the government and police were flummoxed. They had no one leader whom they could lock up and charge with sedition so that the women would disperse.

They had no clue how to react to peaceful protesters who were women. They counted, instead, on public outrage against the road blockade of arterial roads, garnering sympathy for the ruling party. The protests didn’t end. On the other hand the government’s contemptuous indifference only fanned the flames of protest to other parts of Delhi and rest of the country.

How do you use violence against women and children demonstrating with only songs and speeches of protest? What do you do when there are no signs of the protests dying down, but only gaining more support?