Barely a couple of days of swearing-in as the Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray has taken a second major decision related to Aarey car shed issue. The Chief Minister announced that the cases registered against green activists who tried to stop felling of trees in Mumbai's Aarey Colony will be withdrawn. He instructed his officers to ensure that this process should be completed in a time-bound period. He reiterated that he was not stopping any Metro project in Mumbai.
Police had booked at least 38 protesters under IPC sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty) and 143 (unlawful assembly). Of them, 29 protesters, including six women, were arrested. A sessions court had on October 6 granted conditional bail to 29 protesters.
This decision is as remarkable as the decision to stop the Metro car shed work in Aarey forest. Hailing the 29 protestors as ‘green activists’ and not as conspirators, traitors, anti-nationals and elitists, the new government has made clear that it upholds and respects the right of citizens to protest!
Activism is a democratic right of every citizen to express his concerns and disapprovals against the ruling government’s decisions. Crushing citizen activism by labelling it as conspiracy against nation’s growth only undermines the principles of democracy.
Activism doesn’t aim to delay the project but to add dimensions to the project which have been either completely ignored or purposefully avoided. Activism focuses on social and environmental impact as well as equitable distribution of resources and fruits of development to every living entity inhabiting this planet. Activism is not a sign of functional democracy but a dysfunctional democracy where masses opinions are not taken into consideration. A strong activist culture is a sign of poor governance which is inefficient to encompass holistic development into its project. Strong activism is a sign of an autocratic government that doesn’t consult the citizens, local communities and independent experts before undertaking a project and continues its authoritarianism unabashedly.
In a nation that has seen many political leaders like Jay Prakash Narayan, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Nitish Kumar emerging from the culture of protest, we hail the decision of our CM to withdraw the charges against 29 innocent protestors. This decision will encourage our children and youth to develop into powerful nation builders who can stand up for their conviction with courage and not cowards who secure themselves in sycophancy.