Even if for the sake of arguments, it is assumed that there was a requirement for seeking permission from the police and the police had the authority to refuse such permission, and such power was exercised in accordance with the law, then also Congress workers were entitled to a clear and sufficient notice before the police could use force to disperse the persons present at the site.
Now the question is who ordered the lathi charge and at who’s behest? Are we living in a democracy or dictatorship? Mr Sawant, you being in the head of Home department, it is your responsibility to tell Goans what made you order lathi-charge.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
In Sawant Raj people have no right to protest?
On Wednesday, Goa witnessed yet another inhuman side of Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant; when the police mercilessly lathi-charged the Congress workers participating in the Mashal yatra.
The videos which surfaced on social media post the lathi-charge were shocking and fearful.
It was saddening to see the CM and the Home Department ordering beating up their own people without reason. The only reason was the Congress had not taken permission for the rally.
Even if for the sake of arguments, it is assumed that there was a requirement for seeking permission from the police and the police had the authority to refuse such permission, and such power was exercised in accordance with the law, then also Congress workers were entitled to a clear and sufficient notice before the police could use force to disperse the persons present at the site.
Now the question is who ordered the lathi charge and at who’s behest? Are we living in a democracy or dictatorship? Mr Sawant, you being in the head of Home department, it is your responsibility to tell Goans what made you order lathi-charge.
The essence of democracy is the right to have an alternative opinion and to agitate for its acceptance.
Recent experiences, especially in Goa, have shown that the Dr Pramod Sawant led BJP government encourages the use of police powers to render weak and otiose the exercise of such rights.
The conduct of the police goes to clearly indicate that the police action resulted from instructions from the government, and their current stand regarding the permission is nothing but an afterthought.
Moreover, employing ‘lathi charge’ to crush protests and demonstrations has been inherited from the legal framework used by the colonial police.
To adapt to modern times, police personnel must be trained better in using the force.
While lathi or baton charge is a British era method for crowd control, it was usually reserved for dispersing violent mobs and preventing riots in independent India. However, in recent times, the lathi has been used for crushing anyone and everyone who goes against the BJP government policies.
The Constitution of India protects the fundamental right of citizens, including students, to voice their dissent, air their grievances and demonstrate peacefully subject to reasonable restrictions.
Article 19(1)(a) allows for the ‘freedom of speech and expression’; therefore, raising non-derogatory slogans peacefully is permitted.
Article 19(1)(b) guarantees to all the citizens the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, while Article 19(1)(d) confers the right to move freely, taking out peaceful protest marches cannot be denied on account of this provision. The significance of including the right to peacefully protest under Part III of the constitution should not be underplayed; the constitutional framers recognised the role organised and non-violent protests had played in the independence struggle and therefore made it a justiciable right rather than the non-justiciable directive principle of the state or a constitutional right. Nevertheless, these fundamental rights are subject to reasonable restrictions, namely sovereignty and integrity of India and public order.
