Confining dissent: Protests won't stop because of court's irritation

The Supreme Court judgment on Shaheen Bagh reflects how rules can be selectively used to make or break a protest

The Supreme Court of India has generously allowed citizens the right to protest “in designated areas”. It said this in its criticism of the Shaheen Bagh sit-in against the citizenship amendment law and the National Register of Citizens. Its observation was that “dissent and democracy go hand in hand but protests must be carried out in designated areas. What started out as a protest caused inconvenience to commuters. This is what was witnessed in Shaheen Bagh.”

 Many readers may not know what designated area means. I didn’t know myself till I worked for a civil society organisation only a few