Dialogue is Key

Ad nauseam, it has been stated that violence has no place in a democracy as the system is flexible enough to accommodate divergent views. But it seems that not many people are aware of this magical characteristic of democracy. They always tend to indulge in violent activities to achieve their goals which often leads to huge loss of life and property. In recent times, two such violent protests have shocked the entire world. The first one took place in America where thousands of Trump-supporters stormed into the Capitol building to derail the joint session of the US Congress to stall the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Similarly, unruly activities were also witnessed on the streets of Delhi, when the farmers’ protests against the three new farm laws went awry. The farmers who were camping at various entry points of Delhi for the last two months, were allowed to hold a peaceful ‘Tractor Rally’ on January 26. Incidentally, it is the day when India declared itself as an Independent, Sovereign Republic. Keeping the importance of the auspicious day in mind, many thought that the farmers would not create any major trouble. But in reality, the rally turned violent from the moment it started. The agitating farmers broke the barriers, didn’t follow the agreed routes and threw stones to the police. They even climbed to the rampart of the historic Red Fort and unfurled the farmer organisation’s flag in the same pole where each year on Independence Day, the Prime Minister hoists the National Flag. Moreover, the farmers laid siege in the central part of the city for quite some time. Such incidents can only be described as an attempt to weaken democracy that unfailingly encourages the detractors of this liberal system.

Going further into the Delhi incident, it is perplexing why the farmers resorted to violence after resisting all the provocations for the last two months. From the initial reports, it appeared that a section of agitating farmers became restless after rounds of talks with the government failed to break the deadlock. Thus, they took law into their own hands at the very first opportunity, showing scant regard to the commitments made by their leaders before the Delhi Police. But the farmer leaders deny such allegations. Rather, they are of the opinion that a group of supporters from a particular political party infiltrated the farmers with the sole intention to discredit the ongoing agitation. The leaders further argued that they have given enough time to the government to respond to their demands. But instead of showing sincerity in solving the problem, the government was only interested in time-wasting. From the observations by the farm leaders, it is evident that there is a serious trust deficit between the government and the farmers. The violence on the streets of Delhi will further widen mistrust and will make the solution more elusive. The only way to end the impasse is to start the dialogue process again, if we are really interested in denouncing violence in the strongest way possible.