Huge gathering of people, disruption to traffic, nuisance to general public - how come these do not apply when it is a Ganapathi Bappa Mourya or a Navratri 'celebration'. The cumulative hours I had lost in Thane is enough to ready Ulyssess, twice!
John Lescroart in one of his books wrote that the essence of fascism is to make laws, and then apply them selectively against your enemies. Speaks directly to the point you are making. They've just shut down the Delhi-Haridwar highway from June 30-August 11 for the Kanwar Yatra, and no one is talking about "inconvenience".
Thanks for the author recommendation. Will look him up and add to my list. On the topic of how fascists (and fascism) work, let me leave here two of the books I greatly enjoyed (more than certain you have read them, but just in case....) are - 1. How to lose your country in seven steps by Ece Temelkuran and 2. How fascism works by Jason Stanley.
Yeah, read with Hannah Arendt, those two books are excellent and pair nicely with each other. Temelkuran also has a follow-up, Together: 10 Choices for a Better Now, which is the follow up. Here it is not about how it breaks but about what it holds. PS: Lescroart is a writer of courtroom-thrillers. The actual quote, from his book Plague of Secrets, is "The essence of fascism is to make laws forbidding everything and then enforce them selectively against your enemies".
Loved reading this piece. I couldn't help but contrast this with the image outside the White House where protestors had gathered. The WH Rangers (I think) were around and were happy to click pictures with the visitors while creative expletives against Trump were masterfully pieced together into groovy songs. I could only wonder what would happen if we were to replicate something like that right outside the Parliament here.
Prem, even as I was savoring your Craft series and then the football piece (that I made every person who had the misfortune of crossing my path read,) your posts starting with the Jantar Mantar protests, what it means and how predictably the government will react has brought to the fore the role of each of us as citizens need to play. It has been not just a shot in the arm but a ray of hope that we'll see more bold action and more of us older folks on the street. As Edmund Burke wrote “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice, and a contemptible struggle.”
The most heartening thing about the GenZ protest is that it seems to be slowly sinking in to the older generation(s) that they have a role to play in this, too. For too long, we've sat it out, thinking what is the use, the government is too strong and nothing can be done. That mindset is shifting, albeit slowly, and that is the biggest win. The Burke quote from Thoughts on Present Discontents (?) is totally apropos. Thank you for reading.
If protests are against the Government of the day, then Police permission is in essence permission from the home ministry which is normally under the PM or someone close to the PM.
Irony at its best, unless there is a Police officer willing to stick his neck out.
Huge gathering of people, disruption to traffic, nuisance to general public - how come these do not apply when it is a Ganapathi Bappa Mourya or a Navratri 'celebration'. The cumulative hours I had lost in Thane is enough to ready Ulyssess, twice!
John Lescroart in one of his books wrote that the essence of fascism is to make laws, and then apply them selectively against your enemies. Speaks directly to the point you are making. They've just shut down the Delhi-Haridwar highway from June 30-August 11 for the Kanwar Yatra, and no one is talking about "inconvenience".
Thanks for the author recommendation. Will look him up and add to my list. On the topic of how fascists (and fascism) work, let me leave here two of the books I greatly enjoyed (more than certain you have read them, but just in case....) are - 1. How to lose your country in seven steps by Ece Temelkuran and 2. How fascism works by Jason Stanley.
Yeah, read with Hannah Arendt, those two books are excellent and pair nicely with each other. Temelkuran also has a follow-up, Together: 10 Choices for a Better Now, which is the follow up. Here it is not about how it breaks but about what it holds. PS: Lescroart is a writer of courtroom-thrillers. The actual quote, from his book Plague of Secrets, is "The essence of fascism is to make laws forbidding everything and then enforce them selectively against your enemies".
जब सड़कें सूनी हो जाती हैं, तो संसद आवारा हो जाती है" - Dr Ram Manohar Lohia
https://x.com/_YogendraYadav/status/1447898450452893698
Very timely quote, thanks.
Loved reading this piece. I couldn't help but contrast this with the image outside the White House where protestors had gathered. The WH Rangers (I think) were around and were happy to click pictures with the visitors while creative expletives against Trump were masterfully pieced together into groovy songs. I could only wonder what would happen if we were to replicate something like that right outside the Parliament here.
Such an informative essay! And you share all of it without letting it veer into dense, preachy territory.
Prem, even as I was savoring your Craft series and then the football piece (that I made every person who had the misfortune of crossing my path read,) your posts starting with the Jantar Mantar protests, what it means and how predictably the government will react has brought to the fore the role of each of us as citizens need to play. It has been not just a shot in the arm but a ray of hope that we'll see more bold action and more of us older folks on the street. As Edmund Burke wrote “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice, and a contemptible struggle.”
The most heartening thing about the GenZ protest is that it seems to be slowly sinking in to the older generation(s) that they have a role to play in this, too. For too long, we've sat it out, thinking what is the use, the government is too strong and nothing can be done. That mindset is shifting, albeit slowly, and that is the biggest win. The Burke quote from Thoughts on Present Discontents (?) is totally apropos. Thank you for reading.
If protests are against the Government of the day, then Police permission is in essence permission from the home ministry which is normally under the PM or someone close to the PM.
Irony at its best, unless there is a Police officer willing to stick his neck out.
Thanks for the post, Prem. The added bonus was the Lenscroart reco.
Fabulous essay.Very informative and critical analysis♥️
Thank you for reading, Bijaya.