The Right To Protest Through The Prism Of The Constitution

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
                                                                         -Lord Acton

“... And as you know, a policeman came rushing towards us and fired a tear gas shell,” he said to his friend, narrating a story about how he was detained and beaten up by the police. Visibly shaken, this was the first time he had had such an experience. He was part of the protest at the administrative office of the university; students had been demanding the rollback of a recent fee hike.

You may or may not have seen him at the protests. He’s from a middle class family, and had come to university with lots of aspirations. You can imagine his face… with an unruly beard, the stench of cigarette smoke in his breath, and a cup of tea in his hand.

Sometimes, I wonder why he is protesting? And for whom? He is quick to express his anger. He often lets out his frustration, explicit-laden in less than 140 characters or in more verbose forms on other social media platforms where there is no word limit. Why -- I at times wonder -- is there the need of partaking in protests, meeting, activism, or dharna? Why do we need to come out on the streets and shout slogans against the irregularities of the government?

I remember, after 10+2 exams -- while I was preparing for entrance exams -- I happened to read one of best written constitutions of the world. The Constitution of India -- which I have been hearing about during every social studies class since third grade -- I finally read it. I picked it up and the first page was the preamble which says “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation.”

What powerful words. India is a free country which is free from any internal or external pressure and free to conduct its own affairs. This is the meaning of the word ‘Sovereign’. The term ‘Socialist’ -- which was added by 42nd amendment in 1976, which creates India into a democratic socialist nation which aims to end poverty, inequality and diseases -- makes India a blend of Marxism and Gandhian Socialism. Another term which sets Indian Democracy apart from other contemporaneous democracies is ‘Secular.’ Added by the 42nd amendment, the word ‘secular’ is also clearly defined under articles 25 to 28, which guarantee the fundamental right of freedom of religion.

Two definitive terms which make India a nation of empowered citizens are ‘Democracy’ and ‘Republic.’ The word ‘Justice’ embraces the Indian constitution and ensures political, social or economic justice through the various provisions under fundamental rights and directive principles of state policy.

Another essential for the Indian democratic system is the concept of ‘Liberty’. It ensures that all citizens shall have liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship but with reasonable restrictions, as fundamental rights are absolute but not qualified. And the term that completes the essence of Indian democracy is that of ‘Equality.’ It states that there shall be no special privileges to any section of society and equal opportunities must exist for every citizen in every aspect social -- political or economic. Every citizen of India shall have a sense of brotherhood for every other citizen, which is the true meaning of the word ‘Fraternity’. This term ensures the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation.

The Preamble clearly states the ideals on which the Indian Constitution is based and the sources from which the Constitution derives its authority -- namely, the citizens of India. It also lays down the legal and moral values which are fundamental principles of the constitution. Every word in the preamble is so impeccably drafted, and is so in order to lead us towards progress for centuries to come.

However, an important question strikes the mind after going through the Preamble. Have we reached the goals for which our Constitution was created? The Constitution of India is such a beautiful piece of legal drafting and includes 444 articles and 12 schedules. The Constitution defines fundamental rights and fundamental duties, and guides processes -- from the creation of our legal system to the creation of the press and media, from the election and appointments of the President of India to the election of Gram Panchayat, from freedom of trade and business to the powers of our legislators.

The creators of our Constitution were aiming to take India to new heights and to some extent they were able to achieve this. However, the society today doesn’t seem to be fascinated by this remarkable document. In India, the fact that 17 crore people are living below the poverty line gets overshadowed by a 400 years old mosque which was demolished twenty five years ago. Article 16 provides equality in matters of public employment but only 27% of women are part of the workforce. In the year 1960, the state of Madras banned the printing and circulation of a newspaper while article 19 provides freedom of speech and expression. There are so many cases of violation of the Constitution by citizens and in some cases even by the government.

So why shouldn’t we protest?

While the Constitution under Article 19 says (1) All citizens shall have the right (a) freedom of speech and expression; (b) to assemble peacefully without arms; (c) to form associations and union. The right of freedom of speech and expression is one of the most basic and important parts of a democracy -- so that every citizen can participate and clearly state his/her opinion in the political and social progress of a nation.

I firmly believe that the right of freedom of speech and expression is a basic necessity for the functioning of a healthy democracy and it should not be curtailed by any acts of the citizens or the government. There is flurry of examples in our democracy when the protests led to significant changes in the law of the land. The recent example of the amendment in the ‘Juvenile Justice Act’ and ‘Indian Penal Code’ after the gang rape that took place in December 2012 comes to mind. Consequently, thousands of people protested and forced our lawmakers to change the law.

The series of protests in every era of Indian democracy have led to the rise of different political parties -- from the creation of Janta party in 1970’s to the creation of the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012.

That said, sometimes the ideals of our democracy fail. Take the recent case of firing on the farmers in Madhya Pradesh and subsequently eight farmers were killed as they were protesting for the enforcement of the Swaminathan report and demanding an increase of the minimum sale price for their produce.

Even today we should come out and protest so that the last citizen of our nation has knowledge of their rights and duties. Any citizen or the government shall not be able violate anyone’s right if there is information. We need to protest against the mob lynchings, against police atrocities, for the rights of women and children, for farmers and for every single citizen whose rights are being violated. We even need to protest against the organised religions if they violate any right of any citizen of this nation.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar defined the spirit of the Constitution in the following words: ‘Indians today are governed by two different ideologies. Their political ideal set in the preamble of the Constitution affirms a life of liberty, equality and fraternity. Their social ideal embodied in their religion denies them.”

I firmly believe that every citizen shall respect and consider the Indian Constitution as the only holy book for the development of our country in every aspect, in which the right to protest has been expressly provided for. Thus, the right to dissent, to disagree, to protest is completely in consonance with spirit of our Constitution and must be preserved in accordance with it to establish accountability of the State towards the people.

(This article is written by a law student and appears on the Young Citizen page)