Odisha News, Odisha Latest news, Odisha Daily - OrissaPOST
  • Home
  • Trending
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Feature
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • More..
    • Odisha Special
    • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Careers
    • Sci-Tech
    • Timeout
    • Horoscope
    • Today’s Pic
  • Video
  • Epaper
  • News in Odia
  • Home
  • Trending
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Feature
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • More..
    • Odisha Special
    • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Careers
    • Sci-Tech
    • Timeout
    • Horoscope
    • Today’s Pic
  • Video
  • Epaper
  • News in Odia
No Result
View All Result
OrissaPOST - Odisha Latest news, English Daily -
No Result
View All Result

Whither right to protest

Updated: December 9th, 2020, 08:00 IST
in Opinion
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on Linkedin

Sharan Srinivas


Autocratic leaders often seek new ways to undermine the right to protest, because they know protesting can be an extraordinarily powerful force for political and social change. Over the past decade, protests have toppled autocrats, forced governments and corporations to recognise the climate emergency, given a voice to workers suffering under unfair economic systems, and urged reforms to address police brutality and structural racism.

Also Read

MS Swaminathan at IARI Wheat Field (2005). (Image credit- mssrf.org)

Farmers’ Scientist

2 years ago

Taming nature

2 years ago

As Peter Mutasa – president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, which has protested this year for better working conditions – has observed, protests are often the “only countervailing power and force” to repressive governments and the only way for marginalised people to gain access to public services. And even in contexts where they have not yet achieved their goals, protests have shaken entrenched power structures.

In Belarus, for example, peaceful protests led by women (with the active involvement of broad sections of Belarusian society, including artists and trade unionists) have continued since August’s rigged presidential election. In Thailand, protesters’ ongoing demonstrations for democratic reforms have highlighted a crucial debate about the monarchy’s constitutional role, which until recently was off-limits for public discussion. And protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May made structural racism a central issue in the US presidential election campaign.

But governments are employing ever more sophisticated and aggressive tactics to curtail people’s ability to protest. This fundamental right is often threatened in four main ways.

First, governments are repurposing existing laws to limit protests and detain participants. In India, police have arrested protesters under sedition and anti-terrorism laws, while officials in Hong Kong have cracked down on protests by deploying public-order laws (ostensibly to prevent the spread of COVID-19). Other countries, including Algeria, Angola, Lebanon, and Thailand, have also used emergency anti-COVID measures to harass, intimidate, and jail protesters. Such arrests and crackdowns occur despite the recognition of the right to peaceful assembly in many of these countries’ constitutions, as well as international law.

Second, some governments – most recently in Belarus and Nigeria – have tried to quash protests violently. These governments not only disperse and detain protesters, but also torture and even kill them.

Third, governments have curtailed protesters’ ability to organise by ordering repeated Internet shutdowns. The #KeepItOn coalition, convened by the digital-rights group Access Now, recorded at least 65 Internet shutdowns during protests in 2019, including in Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Algeria, India, and Indonesia. The Belarusian government has also repeatedly shut down the Internet during this year’s protests.

Fourth, governments, non-state actors, and some media organisations have demonised and stigmatised protesters. US President Donald Trump, for example, has called peaceful protesters rioters, looters, thugs, and anarchists.

Another way to delegitimise protesters is to cast doubt on their motives by referring to them, without evidence, as ‘paid protesters,’ or by characterising pro-democracy demonstrators as ‘anti-national’ and environmental activists as ‘anti-development.’ Such narratives aim to diminish public support for protesters and justify government crackdowns.

Despite the threats posed by such tactics, there is hope. A growing number of individuals and organisations worldwide are working to safeguard the right to protest. Some groups – for example, the Right2Protest coalition in South Africa – operate non-stop telephone hotlines for those who intend to protest peacefully, providing information and advice on legal frameworks. When protesters are arrested, these groups connect them with lawyers who work to ensure that they are granted bail and, if necessary, defend them (often pro bono) at their trials.

Other groups specialise in legal challenges to official policies and practices that infringe on the right to protest. In Uganda, for example, a five-year litigation effort spearheaded by four civil-society organisations led to a major victory in March, with the Constitutional Court striking down part of a law allowing Ugandan police to prevent or stop public gatherings arbitrarily. In September, Colombian civil-society groups won a sweeping judgment in the country’s Supreme Court that called for police reform and a gag order preventing public officials from openly demonising peaceful protesters.

Ultimately, though, the best protection for protest movements and those who defend them is the opportunity for participants to be part of something larger than themselves. “Solidarity is the engine that keeps us going,” says Mutasa.

Everyone – not only lawyers and NGOs – can play a part in upholding the right to peaceful protest. Doctors and nurses can provide emergency first aid. Teachers can educate their students about the right to peaceful protest and why it matters. Telecom operators can disregard government orders to shut down the Internet during protests. Media professionals and citizen journalists can provide a powerful counter-narrative to those seeking to demonise protesters. And as individuals, we can all take to the streets or voice our dissent online.

Without such solidarity, the right to protest is always vulnerable. And where that right is not upheld, few other rights are safe.

The writer is Senior Program Officer at the Open Society Foundations’ Human Rights Initiative.  ©Project Syndicate.

Tags: Sharan Srinivas
ShareTweetSendShare
Suggest A Correction

Enter your email to get our daily news in your inbox.

 

OrissaPOST epaper Sunday POST OrissaPOST epaper

Click Here: Plastic Free Odisha

#MyPaperBagChallenge

Jyotshna Mayee Pattnaik

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Rajashree Manasa Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Vandana Singh

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Tapaswini Mallick

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Ramakanta Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sitakanta Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Arya Ayushman

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Anasuya Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Pratyasharani Ghibela

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Matrumangal Jena

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Rajashree Pravati Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sarfraz Ahmad

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Aman Kumar Barisal

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Mrutyunjaya Behera

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Anup Mahapatra

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Aishwarya Ranjan Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sibarama Khotei

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Pragyan Priyambada

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Spinoj Pattnaik

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Akshaya Kumar Dash

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Keshab Chandra Rout

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Anshuman Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Praptimayee Biswal

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Lopali Pattnaik

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Archit Mohapatra

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Surya Sidhant Rath

December 12, 2019
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Dibya Ranjan Das

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Saishree Satyarupa

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Smitarani Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Akriti Negi

December 12, 2019

Archives

Editorial

Reviving 9/11 Spirit

Donald Trump
September 10, 2025

The memories of the deadly al-Qaeda strikes on 9/11 on iconic US building complexes are still alive even after several...

Read moreDetails

Evolving Nepal

Nepal
September 9, 2025

Violence erupted in Kathmandu 8 September as thousands of young Nepalese took to the streets and clashed with security forces,...

Read moreDetails

Leadership Crisis

Shigeru Ishiba
September 8, 2025

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on 7 September announced his resignation, a move that could usher in a period of...

Read moreDetails

Pied-Piper Politics

Aakar Patel
September 7, 2025

As someone who prefers India as a pluralist and secular society, I have my problems with this government as many...

Read moreDetails
  • Home
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
Developed By Ratna Technology

© 2025 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST

  • News in Odia
  • Orissa POST Epaper
  • Video
  • Home
  • Trending
  • Metro
  • State
  • Odisha Special
  • National
  • International
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Editorial
  • Entertainment
  • Horoscope
  • Careers
  • Feature
  • Today’s Pic
  • Opinion
  • Sci-Tech
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs

© 2025 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST

    • News in Odia
    • Orissa POST Epaper
    • Video
    • Home
    • Trending
    • Metro
    • State
    • Odisha Special
    • National
    • International
    • Sports
    • Business
    • Editorial
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscope
    • Careers
    • Feature
    • Today’s Pic
    • Opinion
    • Sci-Tech
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Jobs

    © 2025 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST