Aakar Patel | Protests can’t be limited only to ‘designated’ areas in India
2 years, 3 months ago

Aakar Patel | Protests can’t be limited only to ‘designated’ areas in India

Deccan Chronicle  

India’s Supreme Court has generously allowed citizens the right to protest “in designated areas”. What the Supreme Court has observed or ordered in the matter of Shaheen Bagh doesn’t apply to political parties and more organised forces like farmers’ unions and caste groups. If the Supreme Court kicks the can down the road on habeas corpus, if the home minister announces his intention of locking up millions and denying them citizenship rights, if the State reverses the burden of proof on this and demands we provide the evidence to its satisfaction, then it’s naive to assume protests will not happen. One would like to know what they think about the court's order that they only protest “in a designated area”.

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History of this topic

Bengaluru trade unions, activists demand withdrawal of protest licensing order
3 weeks, 1 day ago

Bengaluru trade unions, activists demand withdrawal of protest licensing order

New Indian Express  

BENGALURU: Horaatada Hakkigagi Janandolana, a coalition of trade unions, women’s rights, queer rights, slum and Dalit organisations, and civil liberties groups demanded the withdrawal of the Licensing and Regulation of Protests, Demonstrations, and Protest Marches Order, 2021, which confines protests to Freedom Park. Protests, once a vibrant expression of democratic dissent across Bengaluru, are now designated to only Freedom Park, …

Judicial Review of Restrictions on Protests: A Critical Examination of the Role of Constitutional Courts in Safeguarding India's Right to Dissent
2 months ago

Judicial Review of Restrictions on Protests: A Critical Examination of the Role of Constitutional Courts in Safeguarding India's Right to Dissent

Live Law  

The Samvidhan Series report, titled 'License to Protest: Examining the Role of Constitutional Courts in Upholding the Right to Protest,' sheds light on the evolving judicial stance on the right to protest in India. The report scrutinizes over 60 judgments from the Supreme Court and High Courts, highlighting how courts have increasingly restricted the right to protest through legal regulations. …

License To Protest: Examining The Role Of Courts In Safeguarding India's Right To Dissent
2 months ago

License To Protest: Examining The Role Of Courts In Safeguarding India's Right To Dissent

Live Law  

Part III Action Research & Resource Centre has unveiled the second volume of its Samvidhan Series, titled “License to Protest: Examining the Role of Constitutional Courts in Upholding the Right to Protest.” The report was launched at the Constitution Club of India, featuring a panel discussion with renowned figures including Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar, Senior Advocate …

Aakar Patel | Of Authoritarianism and Freedom: What the world is saying about today’s India
9 months, 1 week ago

Aakar Patel | Of Authoritarianism and Freedom: What the world is saying about today’s India

Deccan Chronicle  

There was a popular video recently by a young man named Dhruv Rathee, which irked the government’s supporters. Its broad argument may be understood by the title, which was “Is India becoming a dictatorship?” The examples used in the video included the recent rigging of the Chandigarh mayoral election by the BJP, the recent rigging of the panel to select …

Aakar Patel | If you have eyes…The many ways in which govt targets India's minorities
1 year, 2 months ago

Aakar Patel | If you have eyes…The many ways in which govt targets India's minorities

Deccan Chronicle  

Four centuries ago, a British ambassador, Sir Henry Wotton, defined a diplomat as “an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country”. For the first time in our history, we have no Muslim Union minister, no Muslim government MP, no Muslim BJP MLA anywhere in India, and this exclusion does not surprise anyone. Beef lynching as …

Anita Anand | Protests, and how to handle them: A wake-up call for all governments
1 year, 6 months ago

Anita Anand | Protests, and how to handle them: A wake-up call for all governments

Deccan Chronicle  

Growing up in rural West Bengal, I first encountered protests when I heard the word “gherao”, which literally means “to encircle”. Two recent and substantial protests in India were against the Central government’s proposed policies or policies adopted without sufficient interaction with the concerned parties: the Citizenship Amendment Act and the three farm bills. In December 2019, the government proceeded …

Diaspora gathers in solidarity outside Indian High Commission in London as another protest planned for March 22
1 year, 9 months ago

Diaspora gathers in solidarity outside Indian High Commission in London as another protest planned for March 22

The Hindu  

Members of the Indian diaspora in the U.K. gathered outside the Indian High Commission in London for a demonstration of solidarity, in response to Khalistani protestors taking down the Indian flag from the building on Sunday. The Federation of Sikh Organisations and other groups announced that they would protest “ discriminatory actions of the Indian Police in Panjab” on Wednesday, …

Aakar Patel | Raj lessons for today’s India: Why do we see fewer protests?
2 years, 1 month ago

Aakar Patel | Raj lessons for today’s India: Why do we see fewer protests?

Deccan Chronicle  

Last week my new book was out and its subject is peaceful protest by individuals. Uttar Pradesh has the National Security Act, that allows detention without charge or trial for a year to “prevent a person from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations of India with foreign powers, or the security of India” or …

Aakar Patel | Despite harsh laws, India can’t become a police state
2 years, 4 months ago

Aakar Patel | Despite harsh laws, India can’t become a police state

Deccan Chronicle  

The dictionary defines a police state as “a political unit characterised by repressive governmental control of political, economic and social life, usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by the police and especially the secret police, in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures”. On July 11, 2022, India’s …

Aakar Patel | A benign mask for whole world; fangs bared to citizens at home
2 years, 5 months ago

Aakar Patel | A benign mask for whole world; fangs bared to citizens at home

Deccan Chronicle  

Having been kept busy by the government in various matters, I have not had the chance to catch up with the news much in the last couple of weeks. The first is that India and the European Union refer to themselves as “open and democratic societies”, which “emphasised the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights”. After this, …

Aakar Patel | Courts, even SC, shouldn’t be the only place to go to secure rights
2 years, 5 months ago

Aakar Patel | Courts, even SC, shouldn’t be the only place to go to secure rights

Deccan Chronicle  

One of our Supreme Court judges made an important, if startling, point when delivering a lecture abroad. A legal website reporting his speech gave this headline to the story: “Will result in slippery slope if courts are regarded as only organ to defend citizens’ rights”. This is actually how many democracies function and the justice system, and in particular the …

Aakar Patel | Bigotry misfit in modern world: What direction is India headed?
3 years, 1 month ago

Aakar Patel | Bigotry misfit in modern world: What direction is India headed?

Deccan Chronicle  

For many years, I had the opportunity to visit and study Pakistan and also to write for its newspapers. Even today, Pakistan's laws are largely the same as India's and the residents of Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar are familiar with things like Sections 420, 302 and 144. The punishments remained on the books but the State, which was a modern …

Aakar Patel | How the world sees India is changing not for the better
3 years, 8 months ago

Aakar Patel | How the world sees India is changing not for the better

Deccan Chronicle  

What sort of India is the present generation growing up in and what will they live through? India’s urban unemployment is at a historic high and, more important, the participation rate of India’s labour force -- meaning those who are employed or looking for work -- is at a historic low. Within India our politics has become dark and election …

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