A fight for the right to protest in Bengaluru

Earlier this year, a group of retired teachers from aided schools demanding they be added to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) sat in protest at Freedom Park for 142 days with no government functionary ever visiting them to even receive a memorandum.

Earlier this year, a group of retired teachers from aided schools demanding they be added to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) sat in protest at Freedom Park for 142 days with no government functionary visiting them to even receive a memorandum.

“The hopelessness of the long-drawn-out protest grew so intense that two teachers ended their lives, forcing us to abandon the protest. Even after the two deaths, nobody turned up or responded. Sitting at Freedom Park is mostly ineffective, and the powers that be just ignored us,” said Karibasappa, President, Aided Schools and College Teachers’ Federation.

In January 2022, the Bengaluru Police Commissioner issued an order restricting all protests to Freedom Park, one of the reasons being the traffic snarls the marches resulted in. However, civil society groups say the decision “made protests invisible”. They are now spearheading a campaign titled “End the Invisibalisation of Protests”, seeking the rollback of the police order.

“A protest or a street struggle is aimed at drawing the attention of the government and citizens. Often, even when thousands of women sit on a day-night dharna, it rarely pricks the conscience of either the society or the government because we are not even seen. This is as good as our voice getting scuttled,” said S. Varalakshmi, President, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Karnataka, who leads unions of anganwadi workers and mid-day meal workers.

“Earlier this year, when the government did not give us even an audience despite thousands of women sitting and sleeping on the streets, we had to issue a threat to gherao the Chief Minister’s residence, to finally get some response from them. This itself shows the ineffectiveness of Freedom Park as a venue of protest vis a vis others,” she added. 

“For over a year, the police have restricted protests and public gatherings in any place other than Freedom Park and have refused permission for processions. This has caused enormous hardship to all those seeking to exercise their constitutional rights and is against the very spirit of plural and diverse Karnataka where all citizens can make their concerns heard and felt,” an online petition, who is part of the campaign, said.

The city police said the Licensing and Regulation of Protests, Demonstrations and Protest Marches (Bengaluru City) Order, 2021, followed a “direction” from the Karnataka High Court and their hands were tied.