In a grim reflection of shrinking democratic spaces, police arrested a group of peaceful activists in Panaji whose only “crime” was to demand an end to the slaughter in Palestine. For an act of moral courage, many were rudely hauled away and detained. They were crudely shifted to Agacaim only to be released a few hours later.
To gather peacefully is a citizen’s right. I have seen fringe elements gather without permission on sidewalks, unquestioned. These are double standards. Why are they never troubled?
The arrests expose a disturbing contradiction. Governments that proclaim themselves defenders of democracy and human rights routinely silence voices that dare to question genocide and occupation in Gaza. It comes from the top level; policymakers who are mute because Israel and India are allies. Why is it that when activists call for peace, they are branded as troublemakers and disruptive?
There is violence being waged daily in Gaza and the West Bank, blockades, bombings, and starvation as weapons of war. Around the world, students, faith leaders, and trade unionists demand to halt the destruction of Palestine. Their methods are non-violent, rooted in the traditions of civil disobedience taught by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela. They gather in tens of thousands. They cannot be stopped until justice is meted out to Palestine.
History will remember ordinary people who stood on the side of humanity when silence was the easier choice. Their voices may be muffled in the streets today, but they echo in a global chorus demanding freedom for Palestine and dignity for its people.
