Anti-CAA stir, nothing but political slugfest

At these closing hours of the tumultuous 2019, one could only wonder whether this could be rated as the year of popular unrest.

The streets were on fire, literally, across the world. The protests are all democratic in nature, though not peaceful always.

The paradox is that all of these, almost, are protests against anti-democratic and right wing forces which have won the elections or have taken hold of power in various countries.

Watch 2019 closely, we understand that this year could be rivalled by any other year. Hong Kong, India, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Russia, Malta, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Sudan continue to witness strong protests.

Some protests are still raging on and seem to have no end in sight. Perhaps, it is just the beginning in India due to yet another reason, political. As leaders like Mamata Banerjee and other non-BJP parties continue to keep losing ground electorally, their only way to cling to power is through creating unrest in their States so that they can keep the BJP at bay.

(The fact that the protests are all confined to the BJP-ruled States alone is proof enough of the Opposition game plan).

Though these protests have erupted due to different reasons, they all look remarkably the same. Try to sort out the photos of these protests for their uniqueness, you won't be able to do so.

Because, one only sees protesters either clashing with police or vandalising public property or shouting slogans holding placards and posters. This commonality defies a global explanation. Protests are happening in the rich cities and in the poor countries such as Hong Kong and Barcelona and in Sudan and Venezuela.

However, these are street skirmishes and have not resulted in any remarkable change anywhere. Neither a Berlin Wall has fallen, nor any Winter Palace captured. There is no single iconic movement too to these protests. Some countries have seen these protests because of economic reasons like rising prices, inflation, higher tariffs and fares for utility services or against growing joblessness etc.

In some places, it could be against a piece of legislation (as in India where the Opposition's only bail out perhaps is the minority vote). Ironically, in India these protests are about immigration into the country of foreigners while in Hong Kong, it is against extradition.

These protests have not always seen a ruling party or a ruling leader thrown out always. Street protests and strikes forced Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, out of office in November after being in power for 13 years.

Next to follow was Adel Abdul Mahdi, the Prime Minister of Iraq who had to resign after months of turmoil. But, in Iran and Iraq mass demonstrations have been met with brutal violence leading to hundreds of killings.

Of course, in India it is all political slugfest spilling over to the streets.

Resentment against the Modi government has been brewing in some sections (who never voted for him anyway) and the same is being orchestrated on the streets today. Let us see how far and how strong the Indian protests grow.