Dissent and Lathi-charge in India

In the last four months, we have witnessed many Arab tyrants resorting to extreme measures to curb protests against their brutal regimes. Ben-Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Ali Abdullah Saleh, King Hamad and of course Muammar Gaddafi used every state (or foreign) apparatus available to them to curb the protests. The unrest and the protests in the Middle-east are a reflection of the people’s demand for democracy and self-rule and the reaction and the violence from the tyrants weren’t exactly unexpected. Dissent is not appreciated by dictators but it is a vital part of democracy. So, what if you live in the so-called ‘largest democracy’ in the world and constantly see the diminishing place of dissent in Indian democracy? When people like Arundhati Roy or Gautam Navlakha reflect on Indian government’s policy towards the problem in Kashmir or the Maoists, they are branded as anti-national and threatened with charges of sedition. While Arundhati Roy and Gautam Navlakha do face reprehension from the government and the police, they do not go through what many other activists and protesters face on a daily basis. They are harassed by the police and their peaceful assembly, most of the time, is broken up violently through Lathi-charging.

Lathi-charge (Baton charge) on protesters is a very common and widespread practice of the Indian police in virtually every state. The police in India carry the colonial mentality of treating dissenting Indians as second class citizens. Lathi was introduced as a weapon in the Indian police by the Brits during their rule in India and its unnecessary usage continues even to this day. In the recently concluded Cricket World Cup which was held in the subcontinent, the frenzied fans flocked in numbers to get tickets for games involving India and every time police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the cricket enthusiasts.

Police would argue that the crowd is unruly and they are resorting‘only to lathi’ because it’s least likely to cause serious damage (which could be true because of these trigger-happy cops) but the actual problem is not whether lathi is less harmful than other weapons, the real the issue is the mentality of the Indian police. Their job is to serve and protect the people not oppress them on behalf of other agencies and I argue that this mentality is a leftover of India’s colonial past when the Indian police employed by the British were given the power to “rule” over the people (and they actually believed their superiority over others because the Brits chose them) but were only used as a deterrence against the local people. What has changed now is that the police is acting on behalf of the government and the elites of India rather than Britain. When farmers in Nandigram, West Bengal came out in protest against the decision of West Bengal government to acquire 10,000 acres of land without their consent and give it to a foreign corporation to develop a chemical industry, around 4,000 heavily armed policemen were deployed to crush the protest which resulted in the death of dozens of poor protesters.

The crimes committed by Indian police are numerous and done with complete impunity, and it is because most of the time they are acting on behalf of some ruling politicians. India is (in)famous for some of the worst communal riots but what inflates this communal problem in India is the role of police. While they should be acting to prevent riots and protecting the attacked community, in most cases are a part of the government or aligned with politicians who use riots to further advance their interests. Governments use the police force to suppress the voice raised against their policies and actions. Last year, after the European Union and India agreed on a free trade agreement, peaceful protesters gathered outside the Commerce Ministry in New Delhi to protest the deal which would severely affect the cheap and reliable supply of otherwise expensive medicines in India and other developing countries. What followed was a brutal show of force by Delhi police, lathi-charge and arrest of non-violent protesters.

India prides itself as being the ‘largest democracy’ but that democracy is nothing but an elitist show because of the role of police, amongst other factors. As one of the most corrupt institution in India it deprives people of their right to expression and dissent.

Our Heroes, Their Heroes

Gandhi is a symbol that cannot be ignored if you are an Indian or have any relation to India whether you are a foreigner travelling through India or a diplomat visiting the largest democracy in the world. Every Indian currency is engraved with picture of Gandhi. If you visit any schools, police stations, courts, post-offices or any other government building, a huge portrait of Gandhi will be visible hanging from the wall. Most private offices also tend to do the same as well. Head of States visiting New Delhi must stop by Rajghat to pay their homage to Bapu. Noble Peace Prize winner Barack Obama also visited Rajghat during his trip to India few months ago and later spoke very eloquently on the floor of Indian Parliament how he has been inspired by Gandhi throughout his life. Heck, when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was on an official trip to India in 2003, he also visited Rajghat and expressed his ‘deep admiration’ of the messiah of peace. It seems like no matter where you stand on question of war and peace, how much you value the precious life, if you are a world leader and have business to do with India well you must pretend to be Gandhian even if you are Ariel 'war criminal' Sharon. 
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the ruling coalition party of India since 2004 led by Indian National Congress (INC). INC is the same political party that was once led by Mahatma Gandhi during the struggle against the British for India’s independence. Indian government has been marred by numerous high-level corruption including 2G spectrum auction controversy and corruption surrounding the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last year to name a few. This obviously does not include corruption at every level of government machinery that has plagued the nation ever since independence. Even the most prestigious institution of a democracy- Judiciary is as corrupt as any other and justice can be bought by the wealthiest of the society that leaves the poor suffering further more humiliation and the police topping the chart as most corrupt one. Lives of citizens are made hell by these corrupt officials who must be bribed every time you have to deal with them. And all obviously happens in the offices where a portrait of Gandhi is always present. It’s the same currency with Gandhi on it that is been taken by officials as bribe to get a small work done. A man who preached honesty til he was killed by a lunatic, must be sad that people pretend to love him but not his ideals.    
It’s kind of ironic that the hypocrisy that lies in the system that celebrates our heroes is most visible in Gandhi’s home state Gujarat itself. Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat invokes Gandhi at almost every public meeting and claims him as a ‘son of Gurajat’ but if Modi’s governance is looked at closely he has done exact opposite of everything Gandhi stood for. The talk of so-called development and being most developed state in country is nothing more than a myth created by Modi and his right-wing party propaganda. The development has helped the elites only and middle-class to an extent. But more than anything that has affected Gujarat, whether it’s their 12 percent state GDP growth in 2010 (highest in the country) and the economic prosperity of the elites and the happy state of big corporate investments in the state, it will be (as it should be) the communal riots of 2002-2003 that will define the legacy of Modi. More than 1000 people were killed during the violence in the state, and it has been proven that Modi’s close aides were involved directly and used state machinery in carrying out the the killing of innocent human beings. It’s despicable that a leader who was involved in killing of innocent children and women would invoke the name of Gandhi and people would applause him.  
We celebrate our heroes, but do we celebrate what our heroes stood for or we just celebrate our heroes in vacuum of existence or we just celebrate them for the heck of it? People like Obama and Sharon visiting Rajghat and talking about Gandhi is a mockery of peace and non-violence. These leaders and it includes numerous Indian politicians as well who confess their love for certain individual but in fact have nothing in similarity and have not been inspired least bit by them. It’s easy to make a hero out of an individual but very difficult to celebrate their ideals. Gandhi is one example of such hero whose ideals have been tarnished in a country that celebrates him. I’m a follower Gandhian ideals to an extent where I think he was right but never for me October 2nd (Gandhi birthday, a national holiday in India) held any more importance. It’s about time we evaluate how we look at our heroes. We should evaluate their principles and ideas and then either accept or reject it, not just a make a hero out of someone who died fighting for the country.
(This particular scene from the bollywood movie Lage Raho Munnabhai very aptly captures the sentiment) 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrAbPWWdFYI