{"id":67527,"date":"2020-02-07T16:09:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=67527"},"modified":"2020-02-07T16:11:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:11:49","slug":"designating-a-particular-areas-for-agitation-is-a-way-of-sanitising-protest-that-makes-it-less-effective-and-to-let-protests-take-place-outside-of-the-power-structures-that-exist-in-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=67527","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDesignating a Particular Areas for Agitation is a Way of Sanitising Protest That Makes it less Effective and to Let Protests take place Outside of the Power Structures that Exist in Society\u201d -Dr.Harini Amarasuriya"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Himal Kotelawala<\/strong><\/p>\n

Martin Luther King Jr is often cited as a shining example of civility, of benign agitation. His was the kind of allegedly meek, half-hearted protestation the liberal intelligentsia of the West nostalgically point to when confronted with today\u2019s youthful, unabashedly disruptive activism. The world\u2019s collective memory of King Jr has been shaped by this flawed narrative so much over the decades that few remember him for the unapologetic radical that he was.<\/p>\n

The US civil rights movement has little to do with Sri Lanka, but this revisionist take on King Jr and his brand of activism seems to share some similarities with our own views on protest politics. If the number of ordinary citizens defending yesterday\u2019s announcement of a designated space in Colombo for public protests is any indication, critics say, there has been a serious breakdown in our education of our democratic rights.<\/p>\n

An elected government allocating a physical space for public protests that\u2019s literally called Agitation Site, right next door to the ivory towers of a high-end apartment complex no less, may be a cruel Orwellian joke to some; but to many middle class self-styled liberals, no matter which side of the political divide they\u2019re on, it couldn\u2019t have come sooner.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So deeply entrenched is the narrative of the entitled protestor inconveniencing the public \u2013 a narrative that\u2019s ably peddled by the mainstream as well as social media \u2013 that few would think twice before applauding such a questionable decision. Fewer still would wonder if government-enforced civility might be a handy tool of oppression.<\/p>\n

How did this come to be the case? Social Studies Department Head of the Open University of Sri Lanka Dr Harini Amarasuriya believes that society must look inward to find the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgitation cannot be confined to designated spaces because the whole idea of agitation is disruption. In a democratic society, there is obviously going to be a diversity of opinions. It is through the expression of those diverse views that people participate in the democratic process. That process is messy. It inconveniences people,\u201d she told EconomyNext in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

Dr Amarasuriya also offered an explanation for the urban elite\u2019s predictable defence of yesterday\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery often, these agitations or demonstrations are also a display of resistance against power holders. Not just the ones who are ruling, but also those benefiting from the existing status quo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When the existing status quo is challenged, said Dr Amarasuriya, it is discomforting and inconvenient, but a society that aspires to be democratic must accept those disruptions and inconveniences as part of that democratic process.<\/p>\n

\u201cDesignating particular areas for agitation is a way of sanitising protest, of fixing protest in a way that makes it less effective and takes place outside of the power structures that exist in society,\u201d she said, adding that the thinking behind designated spaces for protest is \u201cvery problematic and anti democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n

A perhaps unlikely defender of yesterday\u2019s decision emerged in former Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) convenor Maheel Bandara Dehideniya who now heads the Api Seeruven movement.<\/p>\n

Dehideniya told EconomyNext that allocating protestors their own space is a commendable idea that will benefit all stakeholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe previous government also tried to implement this, but they failed to do so. Though we worked against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the presidential election, what is commendable must be commended,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Echoing common complaints, particularly those aimed at the very student unions he once represented, Dehideniya said the state-approved agitation site will offer a solution to the traffic congestions and various disruptions caused by protest marches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe protestors too have the opportunity to attract the attention of the authorities and find solutions to their grievances,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This is a sentiment shared by co-cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena, who told reporters earlier today that those looking to agitate have been provided their own space to protest freely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a public space; it\u2019s not in the jungle. It\u2019s at Galle Face, in full view of the public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gunawardena, too, declared a laundry list of complaints at today\u2019s cabinet press briefing in defence of the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf pedestrians can\u2019t walk on the streets peacefully, if they can\u2019t take a patient to a hospital, if their emergency travels are disrupted by these protests, it is bad for the well being of the country. It is also potentially a threat to national security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

These are not grievances limited to those with vested interests, however. Many ordinary citizens \u2013 a lot of whom profess to be liberal in their outlook \u2013 have expressed similar opinions on protest politics, and it is rare that the agitators are painted in a positive light \u2013 a phenomenon that Dr Amarasuriya finds disconcerting.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who consider themselves liberal are only liberal as long as they\u2019re not inconvenienced. The minute they are challenged, the minute they\u2019re inconvenienced or made uncomfortable, they\u2019re no longer liberal. That too is a huge problem,\u201d she said, adding that it is symptomatic of a society that has failed to understand what democracy is.<\/p>\n

Dr Amarasuriya views the sections of society that support the Agitation Site and other enterprises like it as very much a part of the problem of \u201cthese very anti-democratic trends we\u2019re beginning to see in our society.\u201d The government, she said, is responding to that mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocracy is messy. It can be chaotic. Unless we\u2019re willing to accept that, we cannot claim to be for democracy. They have constructed the idea that protests are disruptive. But we really need to reflect on what all of this means and what it means to say we\u2019re liberal and that we value democracy. We need to look within ourselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Economy Next<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Himal Kotelawala Martin Luther King Jr is often cited as a shining example of civility, of benign agitation. His was the kind of allegedly meek, half-hearted protestation the liberal intelligentsia of the West nostalgically point to when confronted with today\u2019s youthful, unabashedly disruptive activism. The world\u2019s collective memory of King Jr has been shaped …<\/p>\n

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