Radio Silence or Resistence?

Diving into the question; Are the students in India silent on the genocide in Palestine or does their voice fall to deaf ears?

Source: The Economic times

On the 16th of October, 2023 gathered hundreds of people, with a singular common goal- justice. Protesters gathered around Mahatma Gandhi Road metro station in Bengaluru, in solidarity with the victims in Palestine, through the distribution of informational pamphlets and a candlelight vigil.     

Out of these protestors, 25 were taken into preventive custody owing to lack of permission from concerned authorities that prohibited any protest or demonstration in the city except in Freedom Park. This limitation of protests only to  Freedom Park was issued by the Draconian Licensing and Regulation of Protests, Demonstrations and Protest Marches (Bengaluru City) Order, 2021, which came into effect from January 2022 on the basis of vehicular traffic caused by protests. However, this decision has received much criticism recently. 

The Deccan Herald (14th September, 2024) elaborates, 

“In an open letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, nearly 600 citizens and activists have demanded that the government lift these restrictions and identify multiple locations across the city to hold protests. The premise that protests alone lead to traffic jams is not correct as congestions are mostly caused by poor infrastructure, potholes, inadequate public transport, political road shows and VIP convoys, among others.”  

Ironically, the Mahatma Gandhi Road that witnessed this curtailment of protests, is one named after the very man known for his non-violent protests and ‘satyagrahas’.

Addressing the first All-India Congress in 1947, along with his eminent ‘Do or die’ he also said, “In all fights for freedom the world over, the students have made very large contributions”

So, today, with violence so brutal and disregarding of the framework laid out by the international law, inflicting trauma beyond the realms of the psychological and physiological, the question arises, are students in India silent? 

On 8th October, 2023, a group of around 300 students of Aligarh Muslim University gathered for a protest in solidarity with Palestine. By 9th October, the UP police logged FIRs against 4 students participating in the protest. The FIR claimed that the protests were staged, “without the university’s permission”. As many as eight media outlets reported the protests to revolve around the themes of supporting Hamas.(Newslaundry,  2023)

This narrative however, is not one that aligns with that of the students. 

The students contested that shortly before they submitted a letter to the proctor's office,   seeking permission for a “peaceful and responsible” protest, without “disrupting regular academic activities”, which was rubber stamped by the proctor of Wasim Ali (one of the four students accused).

Ali said that, soon after the FIR, the rubber stamp was reduced to a formality and did not imply a “granted permission”. However, the students claim, formerly, the stamp is how the university granted permission.

“You can't book anyone for protesting against Israel.”  “It's totally unconstitutional.” “It's part of freedom of speech and expression. These arrests are illegal.”- said Colin Gonsalves, a senior advocate practising in the Supreme Court, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter).

According to Hindustan Times,  Four  people in Mumbai were pre-emptively detained on the account of seeking permission for a pro-Palestine protest. On 13th October 2023, two others were arrested for proceeding with the protest. A senior police officer claimed that the men did not have the required permission to conduct a rally or protest in the area. He stated, “They had not intimidated us about any public gathering in this regard either,” as well as, “Even if they had asked for permission, they would have been told to go to Azad Maidan for the protest, as such activities are no longer permitted at any other place in the city.”

Contrary to this, The Revolutionary Workers Party (RWPI) was denied permission by the Matunga Police (Mumbai) for their planned protest which was to take place on the 12th of October. In Azad Maidan. 

The group was told by the police that they had received strict orders from ‘above’ to deny any demonstration regarding the subject. 

With the arrest of a police constable on the account of sharing pro palestinian post- statements and movements of solidarity have not just found a curtailment or censorship in institutions or on the streets but also in digital media.

November 19th, 2023- during the India- Australia World Cup Final, an Australian man barged into the field with a t-shirt containing illustrations of the Palestinian flag along with the slogans- ‘Free Palestine’ as well as, ‘stop bombing Palestine’. Despite the media coverage, the cameras, and the commentators, no footage of the incident was aired.

As of 11th July, 2024:  a Muslim man in UP was arrested on the account of waving a Palestinian flag during a Muharram Procession, reports Maktoob Media. 

As an act of threat to Palestinian children, Israeli colonists on Tuesday dug symbolic graves near the Bedouin Arab Al-Kaabna Basic School on 23rd January,2023.

They also threw blood-stained dolls in front of the same school. Beyond sides, beyond arms, beyond gain, this is an abhorrent blow to the naive and defenceless in the face of cruelty itself.  As a seemingly general consensus Institutions are awarded an apolitical stature, in an attempt to not ‘politicise’ institutions and education. But If institutions may not be warranted politicisation when raising a voice, why must they be denied politicisation while silencing it?

The violence faced by Palestine is one that is so grave, that numbers and statistics become tragic approximates. UNFPA Palestine Situation Report #11 states At least 43,000 have been killed, 101,000 injured, and 1.9 million people have been displaced, many repeatedly, with over 43,000 pregnant women. There is a lack of accessibility to pads, food, medicine, water and other basic aid. 

When hospitals burn, and schools become rubble, childrens’ laughter turns into screams , the basis of humanity and pain blur- to speak, to read, to demand justice become our duty.

In the face of cruelty and violence, darkness and struggle- voice remains the only traces of what is just, to muffle this voice is to muffle hope. To stay silent is to destroy the leftovers of humanity we possess, the display of which does not seem to be palatable to many.