Street lives: Editorial on the enduring power of public protest in a democracy

In a telling response to the spirited public protests against the alleged transgressions by the chief election commissioner, the Bharatiya Janata Party voiced its support for the unwarranted security clampdown in Delhi. Its logic is instructive. Parliament — not the street — the BJP reasons, should govern the nation. Parliament, undoubtedly, is one of the principal temples of democracy. But is the street always a symbol of chaos and anarchy as the BJP’s rhetoric suggests? The answer cannot be in the affirmative. This is because the street has had an integral role in democracy’s flowering: the two are bound by a symbiotic bond. Democracy’s bloom in ancient Athens could not have been possible without the agora — a public site of free exchange and expression of ideas, some of which serve as the anchor of contemporary liberal thought. Imperial Rome, much like kingdoms in other geographies and eras, was wary of the voices on the street. Some of the most notable instances of regime changes in the modern era — from the French Revolution to the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe to the Arab Spring in the Middle East and Africa and, indeed, India’s own liberation from the yoke of colonialism — took place because ordinary people spoke up against repression from the public square.

Hoi Polloi did not merely topple authoritarian regimes; the democracy that their protests helped shape led to the creation of institutions that are meant to carry their views. Parliament and other such institutions are thus central to democracy’s compact with demos — the people. History has also shown that whenever such august institutions have remained unresponsive to collective anxieties, the streets have reverberated with the roar of the people. The protests unfolding at this very moment are yet another example of such a chain of events. Incidentally, the Delhi Police has denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated site for protest. That is not a surprising decision. Ironically, it reveals that the administration is acutely aware of the potency of the street. There is a line of thought that argues that the inception of technology as an effective tool for mobilisation has made public spaces redundant as sites of protest. That kind of reasoning is premature, specious. India’s streets are thundering with youth despite their ease with and faith in modern technology.