#kolkata protest news | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

srbachchan · 5 months ago

Text

DAY 5974

Jalsa, Mumbai June 26/27, 2024 Wed/Thu 12:56 am

🪔 ,

June 27 .. birthday wishes to : Ef Ravi Patel .. Ef Diyansh Kumbhat from Chennai .. and .. Ef Ayush Mishra from Bilaspur .. 🙏🏻❤️🚩

💍 .. wedding anniversary greeting to : Ef Rajesh Kejriwal from Kolkata .. completing 35 years of togetherness .. on June 26 .. our wishes and more .. 💐🙏🏻❤️🚩

Birthday - EF - Ravi Patel Thursday, 27 June our wishes for this day and the best ever .. love ❤️

Resistance .. its many forms and values and dimensions and usage .. so it became urgently important to apprise the self of it from sources ..

"Resistance is a multifaceted concept, encompassing physical, psychological, social, and political dimensions. Its definition and application can vary significantly depending on the context in which it is considered. At its core, resistance involves the act of opposing, withstanding, or striving against some force or condition. This broad definition can be applied to various fields, including physics, medicine, psychology, and social movements.

In physics, resistance is a measure of the opposition to the flow of electric current in a conductor. It is quantified by the unit ohm and symbolized by the Greek letter omega (Ω). The resistance of a conductor depends on its material, length, cross-sectional area, and temperature. For instance, materials like copper and aluminum have low resistance and are therefore good conductors, whereas materials like rubber and glass have high resistance and are good insulators. Ohm's Law, a fundamental principle in electrical engineering, states that the current flowing through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points and inversely proportional to the resistance. This relationship is crucial in designing electrical circuits and understanding their behavior.

In medicine, resistance often refers to the ability of microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses, to withstand the effects of drugs that are intended to kill or weaken them. Antibiotic resistance is a significant public health concern, as it makes infections harder to treat, leading to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs, and increased mortality. Resistance can develop through various mechanisms, such as genetic mutations or the acquisition of resistance genes from other bacteria. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals accelerate this process, making it imperative to use these medications judiciously and to develop new treatments.

Psychologically, resistance can manifest as a reluctance or refusal to accept certain thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. This concept is particularly relevant in therapy and counseling, where clients may resist discussing painful or traumatic experiences. This resistance can be conscious or unconscious and can hinder the therapeutic process. Understanding and addressing resistance is crucial for therapists, as it can provide insights into the client's internal conflicts and defenses. Techniques such as building a strong therapeutic alliance, using motivational interviewing, and gradually exposing clients to difficult topics can help in overcoming resistance.

In social and political contexts, resistance is often associated with efforts to oppose and challenge established power structures, policies, or social norms. Throughout history, resistance movements have played pivotal roles in advocating for social change and justice. Examples include the civil rights movement in the United States, the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, and the women's suffrage movement. These movements often involve a combination of nonviolent protest, civil disobedience, and sometimes armed struggle. The success of these movements typically depends on various factors, including leadership, organization, public support, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

In contemporary times, resistance continues to be a vital force in addressing issues such as climate change, systemic racism, and economic inequality. Activists and grassroots organizations worldwide are mobilizing to resist policies and practices that they perceive as unjust or harmful. Social media and digital communication have transformed the landscape of resistance, enabling rapid dissemination of information, coordination of actions, and amplification of marginalized voices.

Resistance, in its many forms, is an essential aspect of human experience and societal development. Whether in the realm of science, health, psychology, or social justice, resistance challenges the status quo and fosters progress. It embodies the struggle for survival, dignity, and betterment, reflecting the resilience and determination inherent in individuals and communities. As such, understanding and engaging with the concept of resistance is crucial for addressing the complex challenges of our world. "

... and at times the sources do not even address the most common of them all in the resistance ..

It be the pen and paper writing ..

When the pen has a resistance to the paper quality it is being written on the writing experience is determined as good bad or average ..

When the holding posture of the pen is conveniently comfortable to write, it produces the quality of writing exhibited ..

When the nib and flow of the ink on the pen is of desired like , the paper may be of the best resistance quality, the writing shall never be of the desired ..

paper same .. nib different , pen different .. sign same , but all different in form and appearance ..

GN 😴

Amitabh Bachchan

94 notes · View notes

joonberriess · 4 months ago

Note

Thank you for considering my message.

Here's what everybody needs to know about young doctor's rape case -

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/pgt-doctor-found-dead-at-rg-kar-medical-college/articleshow/112415633.cms

Here's the summary -

Her dad found her naked, lying

motionless on the floor with a broken

pelvic girdle, disfigured limbs and

shattered pieces of glasses in her eyes,

bleeding incessantly.

Her plight in those

final minutes is unimaginable. Her

parents were denied any contact with her

dead body for 3 hours after they reached

the crime scene. 150 gm of semen was

found in her body, one man can only

have 15 gm. A scapegoat is in custody.

Dean said she was psychotic. After the

transfer to CBI, renovation work started

in the hospital. At this point it's not just

a doctor issue anymore, it's just

inhumane. We keep unlocking lower

levels of inhumanity year after year.

#Stop crimes against women !!!!!

Please support the doctor's fraternity of India to help our fellow doctor get the desired justice because common people are silent on this case but being woman We expect support from all women atleast because the worst part is even our medical council isn't allowing us to protest peacefully considering our protests to be keeping medical care of common people at stake . So the social media is our last string of hope .

Thank you !!

here’s the link but pls keep spreading!!

25 notes · View notes

deadoveater · 3 months ago

Text

Who spread suicide claim? Kolkata doctor’s colleagues say story originated in ex-principal’s office

The article:

KOLKATA: Colleagues of the 31-year-old postgraduate resident doctor whose body was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Aug 9 alleged that the hospital authorities’ initial claim that she died by suicide originated in then principal Sandip Ghosh’s office.

They questioned why the hospital authorities misled them when the death was a clear case of rape and murder. Supreme Court also raised concerns Tuesday about the hospital’s suicide narrative.

Hospital insiders disclosed that the decision to initially classify the death as a suicide was made in the office of Ghosh, who was later removed from his position following widespread protests and accusations of a cover-up.

According to the victim’s parents, they received two calls on the morning of Aug 9.

The first call at 10.53am from the hospital’s assistant superintendent Dwaipayan Biswas informed them that their daughter had fallen ill. Shortly afterward, a second call informed them that she had died by suicide. This news came as a shock to the family and colleagues, as signs of abuse and murder were reportedly evident on the doctor’s body.

The colleagues expressed outrage over the handling of the case, particularly the misleading information given to her parents. “Tell-all signs of sexual abuse and murder were all over her body. Why were the parents misled?” asked one of her fellow postgraduate trainees. Assistant superintendent Biswas had not acted on his own, another colleague said, alleging that ��there was a plan to pass this off as a suicide”.

Colleagues also questioned the two-hour delay between the discovery of the body around 9am and when the parents were informed.

Ghosh had reportedly convened a meeting in the same seminar hall where the body was found, with at least two outsiders and several senior hospital officials. This meeting took place before the inspector in-charge of RG Kar hospital outpost was informed around 10.10am.

While Calcutta HC directed Ghosh to go on long leave, other hospital officials, including then medical superintendent Sanjay Bashist and the respiratory medicine department head Arunabha Dutta Chowdhury, have been transferred. “We are for a neutral probe and we also want the truth to emerge,” Bashist had said before he was transferred to CNMC.

(Poster's note: This article was posted on Aug 21, 2024. There have been significant developments in this case since then which I will try to post about as soon as possible. But I thought this was an important piece of information about what has been going on and all signs point to a significant coverup that indian public has been speculating since some of the other testimonies from the victim's colleagues.)

40 notes · View notes

wifeyoozi · 3 months ago

Text

Someone in my inbox (they asked not to tag them) asked me about the repost I made regarding Moumita case so I want to tell you all about it, both because I want more people aware of this and because this has got a lot of rage in me which I want to let out.

My dear followers of you have just some time to read this post and do as least as pray for the poor soul of Moumita and several others I'll talk about in this post after reading this I'll really appreciate. There are heavy mentions of brutal rape and assault cases so if that is too triggering for you refrain from reading.

So this thing happened in India (where I live) on 9th August. Yes that recent. Dr Moumita Debnath was a doctor in Kolkata at RG kar medical College which as far as my knowledge is is a Government College and hospital. To get into this college students need to pass neet exams which one of the toughest exams in the world. She was a doctor in practice. A few interns were running a sex and drug racket INSIDE the hospital. Moumita got to know about this and threatened to expose on social media and tell the authorities. She was unaware that the said authorities was also involved in the racket. She was troubled for the next few days including her new car being vandalized and making her work 36 hour shifts. One night as she was in the hospital on a shift ON DUTY as a DOCTOR, she was caught, held and raped brutally. I won't get into too much details because it is very disturbing and graphic but one of the offenders was a GIRL who helped the men by tying up Moumita. Moumita was raped and beaten up by over 10 people and in the end AFTER she was dead her corpse was assaulted again by a scapegoat who is later sent to jail (keyword, as a scapegoat).

Sadly the story didn't end there. Moumitas parents weren't allowed to see her body for 3hours after arriving at scene. The cause of her death was told suicide. The place where the incident happens was broken down under the name of renovation. The police and government were involved in the tempering of evidence since the interns were from very influential backgrounds. People began peaceful protests and went for candle march to demand justice for Moumita and her soul.

The government's replies? The CHIEF MINISTER of West bengal who's herself a WOMAN states that Moumita was a "characterless" woman , she had a body which would tempt boys , boys can make mistakes so it's okay (??????) , she had affairs and was pregnant (idek why this is related true or not) and that people should not protest and March and should instead just mourn silently.

Shame on her for saying this as a woman herself.

During this candle march one of the protesters (female) was brutally raped, beaten and killed for the sole reason that she was part of the rape.

Sadly this is not the only thing that is happening in India right now.

A 3yo was assaulted by her can driver in woods in Mumbai.

A man eloped with a woman and the woman's family gangraped the man's sister

A man in dehli is arrested for raping his own daughter for the past 2 years

A vizag man rapes a woman in public and the onlookers film her instead of calling police

85 year old woman in up does after being raped

A catholic bishop assaults a nun

And these are only the cases which came forward in news in the past few days just in the span of a week or two.

Men aren't blamed. Women are the ones questioned. Women's character's were judged. Women are the ones told to protect themselves. Where is a woman safe? When is a woman safe? How is a woman safe?

She is still unsafe wearing a doctor's coat, a diaper, a saree, a burkha, anything. She is unsafe in her home, in a hospital, in her school, in public, in her workplace, at night, in morning. No matter how much she fights back she is still unsafe.

And she is still questioned.

It's heinous. Not just the crime but how the public and government reacts to this. And these are just the crime that are known. Hundreds and thousands and who knows how many rapecase files are just buried. Many more than those are never reported. Marital rapes and date rapes aren't even considered criminal.

On 15th august, it was India's 78th independence day. But what are we, the women, really independent from? 78 years and women still don't have half the security and rights as they deserve. Yes, women are now "allowed" to work and study. But they are still getting assaulted at workplaces and schools, no matter how noble the profession or how you g the student.

And Today itself I get a message from the place where I live - a popular gated community which prides itself for 24/7 security that a schoolgirl (12-13 yo) who was in her school uniform was followed by a creepy looking man outside her home and catcalled her (I am not sure if physical harassment took place). Yes, it was dark but the girl was probably coming from a tuition or class. You know what our community head said? "Due to this incident we advice women and children from roaming alone on the street after dark." Something snapped in me and I just wanted to tell this gentleman how about we stop the boys from stepping foot outside after dark instead?

Now as I come to an end of my rage, I just want to tell everyone that this post is not to downgrade my country. I do not want people to think all indian men are harmful or anything like that. Men like that are everywhere. Do not label our country slurs without knowing all of it.

I do not expect you to do anything about this. If possible, pray for these poor souls and let's hope for our government to take some, any serious action regarding this issue.

#ceecee sees #moumita debnath #justice for moumita

22 notes · View notes

rightnewshindi · 3 months ago

Text

Doctors Strike: आज देशभर में हड़ताल पर हैं डॉक्टर्स, महिला डॉक्टर रेप और मर्डर मामले में जाता रहे विरोध

Doctors Strike: पश्चिम बंगाल की राजधानी कोलकाता के सरकारी अस्पताल की महिला डॉक्टर की रेप के बाद हत्या के विरोध में देश भर में शनिवार को डॉक्टरों की हड़ताल रहेगी. इंडियन मेडिकल एसोसिएशन (आईएमए) ने कहा है कि शनिवार सुबह 6 बजे से ��ड़ताल शुरू हुई, जो रविवार सुबह 6 बजे तक चलेगी. कोलकाता के आरजी कर मेडिकल कॉलेज में महिला डॉक्टर से कथित दुष्कर्म व हत्या के विरोध में 24 घंटे हड़ताल का आह्वान किया गया…

#Doctors on strike #doctors strike #female doctor #india news #Kolkata news #protests #rape and murder #West Bengal news

0 notes

coochiequeens · 3 months ago

Text

"We want justice,” doctors chanted in Kolkata, waving handwritten signs that read, “No safety, no service!”

16 Aug 2024

Indian doctors have called for a nationwide shutdown of hospital services as public fury over the rape and murder of a trainee medic in the eastern city of Kolkata last week mounts.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the country’s largest grouping of medics with 400,000 members, said the 24-hour shutdown would be implemented on Saturday, affecting most hospital departments except for essential services.

The shutdown comes after thousands of people took to the streets in several cities to express their outrage at the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor, whose brutalised body was found on August 9 at Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

On Friday, large protests were held in various cities – including Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, Mumbai in the west and Hyderabad in southern India – demanding justice and better security at medical campuses and hospitals.

“We want justice,” doctors chanted in Kolkata, waving handwritten signs that read, “No safety, no service!”

Demonstrators held banners calling for accountability as they gathered near parliament in New Delhi.

“Doctors, especially women are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for the authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses,” the IMA said in a statement issued on Thursday on X.

Doctors hold posters and shout slogans during a protest condemning the rape and murder of the trainee doctor, at a medical college in Ahmedabad, western India, on August 16 [Amit Dave/Reuters]

Multiple medical unions in both government and private systems have backed the strike.

Doctors in government hospitals across several states on Monday had halted elective services “indefinitely” in protest.

Indian media have reported that the murdered doctor was found in the teaching hospital’s seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a brief rest during a long shift.

An autopsy confirmed sexual assault. Doctors say the circumstances of the rape point to the vulnerability of medics left without proper protection and facilities.

Though police have detained a man who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, state government officers have been accused of mishandling the case.

On Wednesday night, the hospital where the trainee doctor was killed was attacked. Police did not identify who was behind the rampage, but said they have arrested 19 people so far.

Little has changed

There were more than 31,000 reported rapes in India in 2022, the latest year for which data is available, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The gang rape and murder in 2012 of a young woman on a bus in Delhi, northern India, led to nationwide protests and outrage over the country’s failure to tackle sexual violence against women.

Since 2012, the government has brought in sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, including tougher sentences and the death penalty for repeat offenders.

Conviction rates for rape ranged between 27-28 percent from 2018-2022, according to NCRB data.

The definition of rape has also been widened to include non-penetrative acts and the age threshold for rape trials lowered so 16-year-olds can be tried as adults.

But campaigners say little has changed despite the tougher laws.

Criminal lawyer Rebecca M John, who has represented many rape victims, said some rapists still believe they can get away with their crimes.

“One of the factors would be the absence of fear of the law,” she said.

Many cases of crimes against women also go unreported because of the stigma surrounding sexual violence and a lack of faith in the police.

#India #Kolkata #The Indian Medical Association (IMA)#RG Kar Medical College and Hospital #Male violence #Violence against women #There were more than 31000 reported rapes in India in 2022 #May she Rest In Peace

24 notes · View notes

balkanradfem · 3 months ago

Note

Hi, i wanted to bring radblr's attention to what's happening in india and you seem like a popular blog on radblr so please post this. Our country is burning. 13 heinous rape cases in the span of a week. A doctor working in a top medical college in the country was brutally raped and murdered. There are widespread protests in the country and amid the protests goons broke into the hospital and thrashed everything to destroy evidence. We don't feel safe in this country. We dont trust our government. Law enforcement is a joke. Please we need international help. Women of india need your help. Please spread this message as much as you can. We want to make this protest international. This protest is a turning point in our history. We need all the support you can give us right now

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kolkata-doctor-rape-murder-case-live-updates-august-16-2024/article68531607.ece

That is horrifying, I am so sorry. I hope you manage to spread the news everywhere.

#india #women seeking international help #murder of a female doctor #lack of law enforcement #indian feminist protest #13 rape cases in a week

18 notes · View notes

mediagraph · 4 months ago

Text

'No Safety, No Duty': OPD Services Hit By Nationwide Doctors' Protest

Doctors across the country have refused to return to work, except for emergency procedures, as they protest against the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Nationwide protests are underway

The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) yesterday announced a nationwide pause in elective services in hospitals. In a letter to Union Health Minister JP Nadda, FORDA described the Kolkata incident as "perhaps the greatest travesty to have occurred in the history of the resident doctor community".

FORDA has demanded resignation of all authorities concerned who could not protect the dignity and life of a woman on-duty doctor. They have also sought an assurance that the protesting doctors will not be manhandled and swift action in the case.

Treatment at most hospitals in Kolkata has taken a hit after doctors joined the protest demanding justice in the case. Several patients and their relatives have complained of inconvenience due to the protest.

The number of daily surgeries at AIIMS Delhi are down by 80 per cent and admissions by 35 per cent after doctors began an indefinite strike over the Kolkata incident, news agency PTI has reported. AIIMS authorities have, meanwhile, issued a circular, asking the doctors to join work and citing a High Court order that doctors cannot be part of protests on the premises.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has shot off a letter to Health Minister Nadda, demanding the enactment of a central law to curb attacks and violence against doctors as a "deterrence" measure and declaration of hospitals as safe zones.

A civic volunteer who frequented the hospital has been arrested in connection with the rape and murder of the Kolkata doctor. West Bengal Chief Minister has given city police time till Sunday to complete the probe, after which the state government will recommend a CBI investigation.

#FORDA #AIIMS #RG kar Medical College

17 notes · View notes

dailyanarchistposts · 3 months ago

Text

India witnessed the rise of two large protest movements in last 2 years which saw millions taking to streets against the oppressive laws passed by the government. These were the Anti-CAA protests against the discriminative Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and the farmers protests against the 3 pro-corporate farm laws. During the Anti-CAA protests, the loudest voices of dissent have been the women, from housewives to grandmothers, lawyers to students, women across India have been at the forefront of this struggle. This female-driven political awakening has been most jubilantly epitomized by the sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh, drawing a cross-generational, largely female crowd never seen in India before [1]. Then came the farmer protests, where millions of farmers took to streets to fight the anti-farmer legislation that was passed in the Indian parliament and to highlight the issues of agrarian crisis which has been growing in India for the last few decades. In these protests, there is an unprecedented solidarity being displayed in the daily rallies that draw out thousands of people all over Indian cities. There are no visible leaders calling out to people to protest in one mode or another, yet the country has found a way to speak truth to power [2].

The Shaheen Bagh protest was led mostly by Muslim women, in response to the passage of the discriminative and unconstitutional CAA passed by Parliament of India and the police attack on students of Jamia Millia Islamia University. Protesters agitated not only against the citizenship issues of the CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), but also against economic crisis, rising inequality, police brutality, unemployment, poverty and for women’s safety. The protesters also supported farmer unions, unions opposing the government’s anti-labour policies and protested against attacks on academic institutions. The protest started with 10–15 local women, mostly hijab wearing Muslim housewives, but within days drew crowds of up to a hundred thousand, making it one of the longest sit-in protests of this magnitude in modern India. The Shaheen Bagh protest also inspired similar style protests across the country, such as those in Gaya, Kolkata, Prayagraj, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. The protesters at Shaheen Bagh, since 14 December 2019, continued their sit-in protest in New Delhi using non-violent resistance for 101 days until 24 March 2020 when it ended due to COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Most of the women who came to Shaheen Bagh protest were first-time protesters, mostly homemakers, who were standing up to the government [3]. This was the first time they came out on a national issue which cut across religious lines. Some came with their newborns and children and some were grandparents. The women were center of protests and men supported them from the sidelines. They were creative and strategic. They governed their worlds quietly from the background and knew when a crisis needed them to cross invisible boundaries and step into the foreground. They emerged into the public space to collectively confront a looming crisis [2]. Armed with thick blankets, warm cups of tea and songs of resistance, these women have braved one of the coldest winters Delhi faced in the last 118 years [4]. These women were drivers of this protest, joining in irrespective of caste and religion, taking turns to sit-in at the site. They broke down the historically prevailing gender binary of patriarchy and took control. They also destroyed the popular imagination claiming Muslim women as powerless and lacking agency.

Shaheen Bagh in many ways typifies the protest movement that erupted across India as it was leaderless. No political party or organization could claim to be leading the protest. Instead, it was fueled primarily by these women who were residents of working-class neighborhoods of Shaheen Bagh. Since it was a leaderless protest, it could not be terminated by a few prominent organizers [5]. When they tried to “called off” the protest citing interference of political parties and security threats, the women of Shaheen Bagh rejected it and decided to continue the protests. The movement had no formal organizers and thrived on a roving group of volunteers and the local women’s tenacity alone. The lack of leaders also confused the police who are clueless on whom to approach to make these women vacate the site.

The protesters were supported and coordinated by a diverse group of more than hundred volunteers, including local residents, students and professionals. These volunteers organized themselves around different tasks such as setting up makeshift stages, shelters and bedding; providing food, water, medicine, and access to toilet facilities; installing CCTV cameras, bringing in electric heaters, outside speakers and collecting donations [6]. Donations includes mattresses, an assortment of tables that form the foundation of the stage and endless cups of steaming tea that provide warmth on cold winter days. Local residents formed informal groups which coordinated security, speakers, songs, and cultural programs that happened on these makeshift stages. People distributed tea, snacks, biryani, sweets and other eatables at the protest site. Some donated wood logs to keep the protesters warm. Collection drives for blankets and other essentials were organized through social media. A health camp was also set up beside the camped protesters which provided medicines for them. Doctors and nurses along with medical students from different medical institutes and hospitals voluntarily joined for the purpose [7]. A group of Sikh farmers from Punjab came and set up a langer (free community kitchen) in the area.

The space was decorated with art and installations [8]. Stairways leading to the closed shops in the vicinity of the protest circle were transformed into a public library and art centre by student volunteers from Jamia along with the young children of Shaheen Bagh. Protest art became the voice of resistance and dissent during the event, and the area was covered in murals, graffiti, posters and banners [9]. A reading area called “Read for Revolution” had been set up with hundreds of crowd-sourced books as well as writing materials [10]. A nearby bus stop was converted into the Fatima Sheikh-Savitribai Phule library, which provided material on the country��s constitution, revolution, racism, fascism, oppression and various social issues [11]. Public reading spaces were created for the cause of dissent and to amplify the idea of education amongst the protesters of Shaheen Bagh. Since a majority of women of Shaheen Bagh have stepped out of their homes for the first time, this was an attempt to bring these women closer so that they read and facilitate the social change they exemplify. Besides young children, senior citizens, working people, domestic workers and many from Shaheen Bagh and nearby areas were occupying the area, choosing books or picking up colors and chart paper, while some also come to donate their old books and stationery.

लड़ो पढ़ाई करने को, पढ़ो समाज बदलने को (Fight To Read, Read To Change)

The children who were present alongside parents also participated in the protest. Most of these children would visit school in the morning before joining their parents at the protest site, which became an art space for many children [12]. They would express their thoughts and join in the protest through storytelling, poetry, puppetry, singing and painting. Student volunteers engaged the local children in reading, painting and singing, and held informal reading lessons.

Speeches, lectures, rap and shayari poetry readings were held every day [13]. Activists, artists and social workers came and gave talks on various issues faced by Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, the disabled, LGBTQ people, and all those who are oppressed. The stage is democratic and hosts poets and professors, housewives and elders, civil society groups and civic leaders, actors and celebrities and of course students – from Jamia, JNU to the local government schools. A large number of women participate in open-mics to express their thoughts, many speaking in public for the first time. The protestors read the Preamble of the Constitution which reminds them of their rights of Liberty, Equality and Justice. If the Shaheen Bagh stage had a bias, it is towards women and those, from academia and elsewhere, who can educate them not just on CAA-NRC-NPR, but also the freedom struggle, Ambedkar, Gandhi and the ideas that animate the preamble to the constitution [13]. The chants of “inquilab zindabad (long live the revolution!)”and “save the Constitution” filled the site. At night people would watch films and documentaries which were screened on the site, about refugee crisis, anti-fascist struggles and revolution. Musical and cultural events were also conducted in solidarity with anti-CAA protests. This occupy protest provided an example of how to create a community without government support by voluntary association and mutual aid, make decisions in a democratic way where everyone takes part and decentralize power by having no organizers or leaders who control everything. These elements of anarchist organizing is also visible in the farmers’ protest.

Small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares of land account for 86.2% of all farmers in India, but own just 47.3% of the crop area. A total of 2,96,438 farmers have committed suicide in India from 1995–2015 [14]. 28 people dependent on farming die by suicide in India every day [15]. India is already facing a huge agrarian crisis and the 3 new laws have opened up door for corporatization of agriculture by dismantling the Minimum Support Price (MSP) leaving the farmers at the mercy of the big capitalist businesses.

The farmers protest began with farmers unions holding local protests against the farmer bills mostly in Punjab. After two months of protests, farmers from Punjab and Haryana began a movement named Dilli Chalo (Go to Delhi), in which tens of thousands of farmers marched towards the nation’s capital [16]. The Indian government used police to attack the protesters using water cannons, batons, and tear gas to stop them from entering Delhi. On 26 November 2020, the largest general strike in the world with over 250 million people, took place in support of the farmers [17]. A crowd of 200,000 to 300,000 farmers converged at various border points on the way to Delhi. As protest, farmers blocked the highways surrounding Delhi by sitting on the roads [18]. Transport unions representing 14 million truck drivers also came out in support of the farmers. The farmers have told the Supreme court of India that they won’t listen to courts if asked to back off. They organized a tractor rally with over 200,000 tractors on the Republic day and stormed the historic Red Fort [19]. The government barricaded the capital roads with cemented nails and trenches to stop farmers and electricity, Internet, and water supply were cut off from the protest sites.

Scores of langars, i.e. free community kitchens have been set up by farmer’s organizations and NGOs to meet the food needs of the hundreds of thousands of farmers in the farmers-camps that have sprung up on the borders of Delhi [20]. The farmers came fully equipped to prepare mass meals in these community kitchens with supplies coming from their villages daily. Tractors and trucks with sacks of vegetables and flour as well as cans of oil and milk arrive daily from villages and towns where pooling resources for community meals is a way of life. These langars work round the clock and provide free food without distinction of caste, class, or religion. Supporters of the farm protest often bring almonds, apples, sweets, and packaged water. They even supplied a machine that rolls out a thousand “rotis” every hour. Social media is used to collect blankets and other essentials for these protests who are braving the harsh winter. Many protestors camp on the roadside in the cold Delhi winter and spending nights curled up in tractor trailers. Volunteers have set up solar-powered mobile charging points, laundry stalls with washing machines, medical stalls for medicines, arranged doctors and nurses, dental camps and brought foot massage chairs for elderly protesters [21].

A makeshift school has been set up at the camp, called “Sanjhi Sathh” (a common place) to recreate a village tradition of holding discussions on important issues. Children from underprivileged families who are unable to attend school due to financial issues and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic come to this tent. It has library, which displays biographies of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, revolutionary Che Guevara, and other books of various genres and newspapers in English, Hindi and Punjabi languages. Dozens of posters with slogans written on them cover every inch of the tarpaulin tents [22]. Farmers also installed CCTV cameras to keep a watch on the protest site and keep a record of what is happening and counter any narrative to discredit their protest. Farmers protest also saw participation of women coming out to protest in large numbers. Women farmers and agricultural workers were riding tractors from their villages and rallying to the protest sites, unfazed by the gruesome winter.

Just like Shaheen Bagh protest, this is a decentralized leaderless protest by hundreds of farmer unions. Even though the negotiations with the government are being attended by representatives of 32 farmer unions, they act as spoke persons who present the collective demand of all farmers. Whenever Government introduces a new proposal, the representatives come back to the unions where they sit together, discuss, debate and decide the future course of action together in a democratic way. Farmers are conducting Kisan Mahapanchayats (public meetings) which are attended by hundreds of thousands of people in villages around Delhi, UP, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana to discuss strategies and ways to put pressure on the government. It was this decentralization that made the protest robust and overcome the condemnation around violence during Republic day Truck Rally. Even though many farm union leaders called for ending the protest, the farmers remained steadfast in their decision to not go back till the laws were repelled.

The sites of the two protests mentioned above can be compared to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) that was set up in Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington by Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters during the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by Police [23]. CHAZ was a nascent commune, built through mutual aid where no police was allowed and almost everything was free.

CHAZ, Shaheen Bagh and Farmers’ protests were occupation protests where the protestors set up a community themselves and created an autonomous zone. If one was against racism and police brutality, others were against religious discrimination and agrarian crisis. The protests were mostly self-organized and without an official leadership. The sites were filled with protest art, paintings, film screenings and musical performances [24]. Just like the mutual aid cooperative in CHAZ, free food, water, snacks and other supplies were provided to everyone. Areas were set up for assemblies and to facilitate discourse [25].

CHAZ was a leaderless zone, where the occupants favored consensus decision-making in the form of a general assembly, with daily meetings and discussion [26]. They slept in tents, cars and surrounding buildings, relying on donations from local store owners and activists. They collected donations for the homeless and created community gardens [27]. Medical stations were established to provide basic health care.

Anarchism tries to create institutions of a new society “within the shell of the old,” to expose, subvert, and undermine structures of domination but always, while doing so, proceeding in a democratic fashion, a manner which itself demonstrates those structures are unnecessary [28]. Anarchists observe what people are already doing in their communities, and then tries to tease out the hidden symbolic, moral, or pragmatic logic that underlie their actions and tries to make sense of it in ways that they are not themselves completely aware of. They look at those who are creating viable alternatives, try to figure out what might be the larger implications of what they are already doing, and then offer those ideas back, not as prescriptions, but as contributions [28]. They understand that people are already forming self-organized communities when the state has failed them and we can learn a lot about direct action and mutual aid from these communities.

Direct democratic decision making, decentralization of power, solidarity, mutual aid and voluntary association are the core principles of anarchist organizing. Anarchists employ direct action, disrupting and protesting against unjust hierarchy, and self-managing their lives through the creation of counter-institutions such as communes and non-hierarchical collectives. Decision-making is handled in an anti-authoritarian way, with everyone having equal say in each decision. They participate in all discussions in order to build a rough consensus among members of the group without the need of a leader or a leading group. Anarchists organize themselves to occupy and reclaim public spaces where art, poetry and music are blended to display the anarchist ideals. Squatting is a way to regain public space from the capitalist market or an authoritarian state and also being an example of direct action. We can find elements of these in all these protests and that is the reason for their robustness and success. It bursts the myth that you need a centralized chain of command with small group of leaders on top who decide the strategies and a very large group of followers who blindly obey those decisions for the sustenance and success of large scale organizing. All these protests were leaderless protests where people themselves decided and came to a consensus on the course of action to be followed in a democratic way. When people decide to take decisions themselves and coordinate with each other in small communities by providing aid to each other, it creates the strongest form of democracy and solidarity.

The fact that these protests happened, with so many people collectively organizing and cooperating, for such a long duration, shows us that we can self-organize and create communities without external institutions and it can be civilized and more democratic than the autocratic bureaucracy and authoritarian governments which concentrate all power and oppress people. These protests were driven by mostly by uneducated women, poor farmers and people from other marginalized communities, who showed that they can create communities which are more moral and egalitarian, than those that exist in hierarchical societies with the affluent and highly educated. They showed that people who are oppressed and underprivileged can organize themselves into communities of mutual aid and direct democracy which eliminates a need for coercive hierarchical systems of governance which exist only to exploit them.

What these occupy protests show us is that we can form communities and collectively organize various forms of democratic decision making simultaneously providing everyone their basic needs. There protests show us models of community organizing in large scales comprising hundreds of thousands of people. Even though they are not perfect we can learn the ideas these protests emulate – of solidarity, mutual aid, direct democracy, decentralization of power and try to recreate these in our lives and communities.

References

[1]

H. E. Petersen and S. Azizur Rahman, “‘Modi is afraid’: women take lead in India’s citizenship protests,” The Guardian, 21 January 2020.

[2]

N. Badwar, “Speaking truth to power, in Shaheen Bagh and beyond,” Livemint, 17 January 2020.

[3]

B. Kuchay, “Shaheen Bagh protesters pledge to fight, seek rollback of CAA law,” Al Jazeera, 15 January 2020.

[4]

“Shaheen Bagh: The women occupying Delhi street against citizenship law — ‘I don’t want to die proving I am Indian’,” BBC, 4 January 2020.

[5]

K. Sarfaraz, “Shaheen Bagh protest organiser calls it off, can’t get people to vacate,” The Hindustan Times, 2 January 2020.

[6]

“The volunteers of Shaheen Bagh,” The Telegraph (Culcutta), 24 December 2019.

[7]

“Behind Shaheen Bagh’s Women, An Army of Students, Doctors & Locals,” The Quint, 14 January 2020.

[8]

R. Venkataramakrishnan, “The Art of Resistance: Ringing in the new year with CAA protesters at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh,” Scroll.in, 6 January 2020.

[9]

A. Bakshi, “Portraits of resilience: the new year in Shaheen Bagh,” 2 January 2020.

[10]

J. Thakur, “Shaheen Bagh Kids and Jamia Students Make Space for Art, Reading and Revolution,” The Citizen, 11 January 2020.

[11]

F. Ameen, “The Library at Shaheen Bagh,” The Telegraph (Culcutta), 20 January 2020.

[12]

A. Purkait, “In Shaheen Bagh, Children Paint Their Protest while Mothers Hold Dharna,” Makers India, 22 January 2020.

[13]

S. Chakrabarti, “Shaheen Bagh Heralds a New Year With Songs of Azaadi,” The Wire, 31 December 2019.

[14]

P. Sainath, “Maharashtra crosses 60,000 farm suicides,” People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), 21 July 2014.

[15]

R. Sengupta, “Every day, 28 people dependent on farming die by suicide in India,” Down to Earth, 3 September 2020.

[16]

“Dilli Chalo | Farmers’ protest enters fifth day,” The Hindu, 30 November 2020.

[17]

S. Joy, “At least 25 crore workers participated in general strike; some states saw complete shutdown: Trade unions,” Deccan Herald, 26 November 2020.

[18]

“Farmers’ Protest Highlights: Protesting farmers refuse to budge, say ‘demands are non-negotiable,” The Indian Express, 1 December 2020.

[19]

G. Bhatia, “Tractors to Delhi,” Reuters, 29 January 2021.

[20]

“Langar Tradition Plays Out in Farmers Protest, Students Use Social Media To Organise Essentials,” India Today, 2 December 2020.

[21]

J. Sinha, “Protest site draws ‘Sewa’ – medicine stalls, laundry service, temple & library come up,” Indian Express, 11 December 2020.

[22]

B. Kuchay, “A school for the underprivileged at Indian farmers’ protest site,” AlJazeera, 24 January 2021.

[23]

D. Silva and M. Moschella, “Seattle protesters set up ‘autonomous zone’ after police evacuate precinct,” NBC News, 11 June 2020.

[24]

C. Burns, “The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone Renames, Expands, and Adds Film Programming,” The Stranger, 10 June 2020.

[25]

H. Allam, “‘Remember Who We’re Fighting For’: The Uneasy Existence Of Seattle’s Protest Camp,” NPR, 18 June 2020.

[26]

K. Burns, “Seattle’s newly police-free neighborhood, explained,” Vox, 16 June 2020.

[27]

h. Weinberger, “In Seattle’s CHAZ, a community garden takes root | Crosscut,” Crosscut, 15 June 2020.

[28]

D. Graeber, Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, 2004.

12 notes · View notes