What are the ways to protest in a democracy? How do you distinguish between a protest and an attack? I think this is the key to looking at the recent events at the parliament where a few youth sneaked in with cannisters of smoke and did sloganeering in the main hall after they jumped from the visitor’s gallery (coverage from The Hindu, Times of India, and BBC).
While it is OK to start with the worst assumption of a terror attack, I hope sanity prevails and we also consider the perspective that it is a (debatably) novel way of protesting by a set of smart but disgruntled youth and we give them what they deserve: a dialogue with the powers that be, a chance to understand why they are going through what they are going through, what is being done to get the economy to a stage where equitable growth becomes a key metric. If this can trigger a broader dialogue and solutioning for the youth, this would be a watershed moment for the country.
Highest level of leadership skills are required to be able to muster the courage and see this event in this way. Anything less, and it is very likely we will see a variation of “Rang De Basanti”, the iconic hindi movie where the characters get influenced by Bhagat Singh and decide to speak up against the corruption and injustice they see in the system which got their friend killed, and kept stepping up till all of them are killed because it was easier to kill them, and much harder to answer their questions or address their concerns (of course, it is a movie, so it had way more drama than this!).
Crisis shows the true leader, and I am waiting to see it – in executive, in judiciary, and in legislature.
How does the judiciary respond – does it go along merrily with the UAPA charge against them and let them languish in the jail, or do they hold the police accountable to a timely and swift resolution and get these youth back to where they belong – amongst the concerned citizens?
How do parliamentarians see it – an opportunity to corner the government of the day (or defend, depending on which side you are on), or a time to introspect and work together to solve the problems raised here through conversations and effective policy-making?
How does the executive see it – an inconvenient situation showing them in bad light, or a reminder of inefficient processes that need to be addressed with citizen’s participation and support?
However, the most important indicator is, how does the prime minister see it – an inconvenient truth that puts a blemish on a stellar image of the country and needs to be dealt with with iron hands? Or a moment to show highest form of leadership and endear himself to the youth of the nation – forgive them for their youthful indiscretion and inviting them to a have a dialogue about the problems they see and the challenges they don’t see; showing them that highest form of leadership is about courage, about showing care, about engagement, and not about clenched fists and cloaks of invincibility?
How the events unfold in this saga will tell a lot about the democracy we are, the leaders we have, and the India we build.
I hope we will look back to this moment and be able to say that a Gandhi-inspired protest on Dec 13, 2023 changed the course of the discourse in the country and created the great nation we are and we deserve to be.
Image credit: IMDB