The high-handed action of the Goa police to break-up and detain ‘protesters’ who had gathered or people who were on their way to the Panjim church square to ‘celebrate’ Goa’s Liberation Day reeks of nothing but an insecure state eager to hide its inconsistencies.
Even ignoring the absolute irony of the detention of the gathered youth to be happening on Liberation Day, when the state celebrates having fought and won the very freedoms that the youth were being denied, the police action of detaining the youth, bundling them in buses and driving off with no destination in mind, with no reasoning offered as to why they were detained or under what section of the law speaks of clear abuse of process.
It appears that the Goa Police have learnt nothing from their past experiences that trying to stifle even an utterance against the ruling government -- as was seen as the police swooped down and shut down a press conference against the IIT in Sattari, a move that only led to an even bigger movement against the IIT.
Countries across the world have had to contend with protests that coincide with the visits of leading guests and dignitaries -- There were massive protests in London when US President Donald Trump was visiting, there have been large scale and even violent protests whenever the meetings like the G-20 countries take place and protests even when Climate talks are being held hosted by the United Nations.
But the bigger issue here is this -- what was planned at the Panjim church square, wasn’t even a protest -- the organisers confirmed that they were only planning to ‘celebrate’ Liberation Day with a series of skits, songs, dances and other cultural displays on the themes of the relevant social issues of the day. The venue was not along the convoy of the President nor would it have in any way disrupted or otherwise proven to be an embarrassment to the host state.
Instead, by going out of his way to stifle any protests, the Sawant government has exposed its soft underbelly to even the hint of dissent against his government especially if it could cause potential embarrassment to a visiting state guest.
That said, it is now important that the courts step in to protect constitutionally guaranteed freedoms -- the freedom to dissent and protest the hallmark of a democracy -- to ensure that the Goa Police do not act over enthusiastically to please their political bosses completely unmindful of the freedoms that our freedom fighters have fought so hard and even laid down their lives for.
Each such step will take us further and further away from a fully functioning democracy both in letter and in spirit. The absence of a fight back either from the courts or the people themselves will only embolden the police to continue to ignore their real responsibilities and the rights of the common citizen and only begin enforcing the privileges of the elected representatives.
