Do Protests Really Work?

So, when the elections are over, according to you, the best representatives are in the legislature. You put your feet up and leave your best interest in the safe hands of your legislators. If the elected ones are not of your choice, you elevate your vigilance to prevent any wrongdoing.

But this is not how it plays out in the real world.

Ideology changes, situation transforms, interest clashes, and so does the motives of getting elected. Invariably, after getting into the power positions, things don’t pan out as promised prior to elections.

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Ideology changes, situation transforms, interest clashes, and so does the motives of getting elected.

What happens next if that is not what you wanted?

How do people raise the alarm, alert like-minded and prevent wrongs happening (according to them)? Something you foresee as harmful to society, country and humanity is set rolling by your favourites. If you were on the other side before elections, any way you were sceptic?

Those in power are now unwilling to hear you and rollback.

Sounds familiar? In the campaign of the 2010 British general elections, the Liberal Democrat party promised the students that the tuition fee would not be raised. 

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By fate of democratic numbers made compulsion their ally, and they formed a coalition government with the Conservative party. The next thing the students knew was a three-fold increase in tuition fee.

The only tool remaining with an ordinary person in a situation like this is to protest. This is to register an objection against a policy or an action that the government is taking. 

There are different ways to do it, and the world is filled with examples, which started as one person protest that transformed and changed the course of history.

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The majority of protests end as being unsuccessful. But, for sure, they do bring about a change at some point in time. There may not be an explicit winner in the end, but there is a change, good or for worse. An immediate example that comes to light is the Arab spring.

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The majority of protests end as being unsuccessful. But, for sure, they do bring about a change at some point in time.

It was the same methodology and the same demand across the Arab world but brought a different kind of change.

It started with Tunisia, where the escalation of protests was the self-immolation of Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi. He was unable to find work and was selling fruit by the roadside. 

On 17 December 2010, the municipal inspector confiscated Bouazizi’s stand and wares. An hour later, he doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire. He sadly died of burn injuries on the 4th of January 2011. 

This incident brought together various dissatisfied population which was living with the problem which first started the Tunisian revolution and then snowballed into the Arab Spring.

Long-running rulers of Tunisia (Zine El Abidine Ben Ali - 24 years rule), Egypt (Hosni Mubarak – 30 years rule), Libya (Muammar Gaddafi – 42 years rule) and Yemen (Ali Abdullah Saleh – 34 years rule) had been forced out of power. There were civil uprisings in Bahrain and Syria. 

Major protests had broken out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman and Sudan, and minor protests in Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Western Sahara, and Palestine.

• क्या विरोध सफल होते है? 

No one can believe the power of protest from the Arab spring. The Tunisian government, led by a dictator for 24 years, changed in a month of protest, mostly non-violent. Egypt saw a bigger protest which lasted some 18 days, though marked by violence, replaced the dictator Hosni Mubarak 30-year rule.

The Arab spring’s continued protest started in Syria to replace Assad. But this time, it has seen the bloodiest civil war for the last decade. More than a million already dead, another million displaced out of the country and the landscape have returned to the stone age. 

The protest now is a civil war with superpowers fighting a dummy war. Chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction are being used against humanity. This is the second month of 2021, and the end is not in sight yet.

Well, it was a protest. While it changed the situation positively in Tunisia, it has taken a turn for the worst for millions in Syria and the region.

It is not difficult to understand that in a thriving democracy or any other form of government, to protest comes naturally to its citizens. Whether people or their governments can make it significant enough is a question of that time and place. Tunisia and Syria are two living examples from the past decade.

In a democratic society, to protest is much easier than in a dictatorship and therefore can be considered as an integral part of the system. In fact, it will not be wrong to say that right to peaceful protest holds equivalence in importance as voting rights.

Therefore, is it not imperative to respect all protests, for self or for the entire humanity, whether big or small or by few or many?

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Therefore, is it not imperative to respect all protests, for self or for the entire humanity, whether big or small or by few or many?

Though we'll know, still this story needs a mention here considering the universal right to peaceful protest. Mahatma Gandhi, in 1893, was ordered to move away from a first class train compartment to a lower class. He protested against an action he considered colour discrimination.

 It was an individual’s objection initially, which turned into an individual’s protest to uphold one right and fight discrimination. He was removed from the train as a result. It was a failed protest if seen at that point in time.

Not in the wildest dream could the staff of the train, or the South African authorities or, for that matter, those suffering discriminations, imagined that an individual’s protest would turn into a global phenomenon of non-violence protest and civil disobedience.

This example of taking a stance against wrong, which one considers is being followed by ordinary citizens, in small groups or large gatherings across the world, and is a template today. It also propagates the philosophy that no protest is insignificant.

Here are a few current examples following the template of non-violent protest and civil disobedience from around the world. In Myanmar, the Burmese pro-democracy citizens are protesting a military coup, which overthrew Ang Sang Suu Kyi democratically elected government.

Venezuelans are protesting their incumbent president to honour the election results. In the United States of America, Black Lives Matter is an everlasting protest, though it turns violent at times. Anti-climate change group Xtinction Rebellion carried out non-violent protest mobilizing millions across the countries. 

Hongkong students and later public carried out umbrella protest the Chinese government’s role in the administration of Hongkong. Farmers in India are in a sit-in protest of the government’s latest farm laws.

• क्या विरोध सफल होते है? 

The issues for which an ordinary citizen has protested range from what seems like insignificant ones to sparking a global transformation. 

In 1992, it was an eleven-year-old child’s letter to Procter & Gamble against their current stereotype dishwashing soap advertisement and changed it to a gender-neutral one. Procter & Gamble changed their advertising on national TV.

 Today, that child is known to all of us as Princess Meghan Merkel. 

Greta Thunberg, another school-going child, started a protest in the street of Sweden. That cold winter morning turned out to a catalyst to global protest the climate change. 

It moved the UN to declare climate change as an emergency and requiring governments across the world to follow suit. There are many such stories where an individual has sparked a protest revolution.

There are other individuals like   William Thomas Hallenback Jr., an anti-nuclear activist, who protested outside the White House for 27 years. Not many have known about this activist outside the US. Did his protest go in vain? 

The peaceful vigil inspired Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton to introduce “the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act” to the US Congress in 1994.

It is therefore vital that individual protests, for you never know, how big can that idea be in future and what potential it withholds, some spark that can transform the perspective of the entire humanity.

More prominent form of protest, mostly non-violent ones, can be seen in our daily newspaper from across the cities and countries.

Another form of protest, most call it a revolution, is a hybrid of protest and change, though it has been generally associated with violence and disorderly change.

Various governments and their leaders have dealt with protest with varying degree of respect. The response had been peaceful and brutal ones too. 

The Chinese government, in 1989 came down heavy on the student protesters at Tiananmen Square. On the other hand, in February of 1983, unknown protesters killed 2,191 migrants from 14 villages of Assam, India. It is known as the Nellie Massacre.

The Bahrain government was able to successfully curb the Pearl Roundabout protest with the help of its nearly 1000 police forces. Pearl roundabout does not become a symbol of protest in future; the Bahrain government dismantled the Pearl Square structure using bulldozers and heavy construction machinery.

The idea here is not writing about an account of various methods of protest or the history of various governments and their response towards protest. Rather it is to make a strong case of the legitimacy of any non-violent form of protest, even though the response from the government could be harsh and violent.

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... it is to make a strong case of the legitimacy of any non-violent form of protest, even though the response from the government could be harsh and violent.

A protest is an integral part of human reaction and, therefore, should get the same respect as voting, which is the point of inquiry here.

Not everything that happens in our lives is as desired. The undesirability happens in family, schools, workplace, community, country, and the world. Some decision by a foreign government which has direct consequences to the environment, marine life or individual health can be the basis of our undesirability.

There are tools to protest in the family, too. The most common one is to withdraw and lock oneself in the room. Workplace protest, especially an individual protest, is very tricky. Mostly it is avoided by an individual for fear of retribution. 

However, it does happen with the help of formal platforms like employee associations, groups, or unions. Public protest by ordinary citizens is seen on the street, raising slogans and speeches to raise awareness. People do camp at a designated site for an extended period.

• क्या विरोध सफल होते है? 

When the protest begins to be a power play, it is time the actual cause starts to journey in risky territory. Charges and counter-charges, personal attacks, historical mistakes can be used to discredit each other. Use of force on either side is common and usually leads to violence, law and order situation.

Whether a public protest meets its objective or not, all protests are enlightening. They bring to the forefront the human capabilities that in normal times are not heard or seen. 

On the intellectual side, there is a multitude of ideas and alternatives that prop up the problem. There are debates and discussion. A difference of opinion can play out in the open. A majority may agree or disagree. 

The spectrum of information ranging from history, consequences, choices, alternatives, and reasoning burst out in the open.

The governments, and especially its leadership, play a crucial and deciding role. It is their outlook towards the protest as a citizen’s activity that can give a violent or non-violent outcome. Interest groups from within the government or the protesters, who can hold off each other, decides the outcome. 

The dynamics within the government also plays a significant role, mostly in a democracy. But not much is seen or documented about it as its primarily confidential.

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Whether a public protest meets its objective or not, all protests are enlightening.

In most constitutions of democratic countries across the world, the right to assembly and protest is enshrined in the constitution. To what extent the governments honour them is a different matter.

Handling a peaceful assembly of frustrated and angered protesters is another behavioural science that needs to be acknowledged. Each protest across the world, from ancient times, have shown that there are always elements who want to take a different route to achieve the same objective. 

Some of them can be violent and pursue armed resistance. The same holds good for the governments in power. There are instances in history where the government have cracked down with heavy hand using army and firepower. 

Curbing individual rights by way of legislation is another method to take on the protester if the situation goes out of hand.

The government, too, learns from the protest, and they evolve.

In fact, many democratic governments across the globe are formed by leaders who are the output of a protest. How successful they are when they come in power, providing a solution to those very problems they fought for, is a different line of inquiry, though.

On the upside, protesters have used various means to spread the message, communicate the objective and collate support. Social media is the tool, and the reverse can be said now. Social media is creating protests but should be considered just as an enabler.

The real tool, though, that attracts the protester is sacrifice and intellectual stimulation. A hunger strike, walking hundreds of miles, sitting out in the open sky – enduring heat and cold, tying oneself to building and road or even self-immolation. The visible sacrifice of the leader is the key.

• क्या विरोध सफल होते है? 

Excellent pieces of oratory have been another gift to the world that has come out of protest. Deep thoughts that will be relevant for centuries have been said in those moments. 

Ground defining principles have emanated from these protest that will guide the future of humanity. No one can forget the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

On the downside, methods to curb the protest have been on an innovative trajectory. Mostly it has been about misinformation. The media coverage and focussed discussion have been manipulated to play mind-games. 

On a larger scale, the media is made to turn political or favour a particular interest group. On grounds, the hardware used has also become very sophisticated. They include anti-riot gears for the police, water cannons, face recognition surveillance.

In a nutshell, protest becomes a battleground and school of all human process; that is what history has shown.

There is no empirical formula that can define a successful protest. There are many whose outcome has been reached in a short span of time, while there are others that are continuing for ages without end in sight. 

Some protests have been single handily led by an individual. The cause has been identified by that face. In many others, a faceless protest has also been successful, like the one at Tahrir Square, Egypt.

The women suffrage of 1918 in Great Britain and Ireland is still an inspiration for women in many countries who are fighting for liberty in the 21st century.

So, do peaceful protest really work? Yes. They all do start conservation and draw attention to the cause, at least. Whether it brings change, immediately or later, minor or significant, it is a long human history with umpteen stories that hold narratives and their interpretations. There is no one measure of a successful protest. 

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