Protests & street agitations

Certain events of civil unrest in India — violent crowds, protests and riots — put a serious strain on the secular foundation of the society. Be it the Swadeshi Movement of 1905 or Satyagrah in 1930, movements have shaped the history of the nation. 

• A court has said people are out on the streets as what should have been said inside Parliament was “not said”. Additional sessions judge made the observation during a bail hearing case. While these observations are not legally binding but do carry certain heft, especially at a time the Modi government has been creating an impression that the Anti CAA protests are against the national interest.
• The judge asked: “What is the problem with going to Jama Masjid? What is wrong with dharna? It is one’s constitutional right to protest. Where is the violence? What is wrong with any of these posts? Have you read the Constitution? “You are behaving as if Jama Masjid was Pakistan and even if it was Pakistan, you can go there and protest. Pakistan was a part of undivided India,” the judge said.
• Expecting decisions without agitations is like expecting crops without ploughing the ground; rain without thunder and lightning. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

Some famous quotations:

• Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization. Progress is born of agitation. It is agitation or stagnation ... Eugene V. Debs
• Progress is dependent upon a productive and dynamic tension between institutionalism and insurrectionism. Insurrectionists keep our institutions honest ... Christopher Hayes
• Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth ... William Faulkner
• We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented ... Elie Wiesel 
• Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient are slaves ... Henry David Thoreau
• Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence ... Leonardo da Vinci
• One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws .. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable ... John F. Kennedy
• A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government ... Edward Abbey
• Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it ... Howard Zinn