Protests

I was in a taxi in Kathmandu going from the jeep stop to the Immigration office to renew my visa. On the way, we got to a stretch of road where the lane coming in the other direction was closed to traffic. Our side was open but very congested and not really moving. Well, the motorbikes were getting through, but they often choose not to obey the laws of physics with regard to the space that physical objects take up and the principle that two distinct physical objects cannot occupy the same physical space at the same time.

It was fine. I wasn’t really in that much of a rush. And while the jeep ride had been fairly comfortable (only two of us in the back row which was probably designed for three and usually has four), this taxi was more comfortable and considerably less dusty!

The reason why the road was closed to traffic was because there was a protest march. Lots of people, banners, placards, chanting, etc. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Mostly adult men, but some women. A few much older people, not many very young ones. People looked happy enough in their protest.

I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I highly endorse the right of people to be able to protest peacefully, even if that protest disrupts other people (myself included) and regardless of whether I agree with (or am aware of) the issue. And in my case, a little delay (maybe 20 mins) really wasn’t a problem for me on that day. In many countries around the world, peaceful protest is not something that citizens are able to participate in. I have participated in protest before and while they have had no obvious direct impact, they do raise awareness and send a message to a government about the temperature in the waters of public opinion. It is also nice to be with other people who care about the same thing that you do, especially if they come to that position through a very different life experience than yours.

On the other hand, I was reminded of advice I was given before my first stint of international volunteering: when you get caught up in a protest, move at right angles to the protest and get away from it. I felt safe in the taxi. My taxi driver seemed a little annoyed by the delay but didn’t look worried for his or my safety. And anyway, there wasn’t really anywhere else I could go (I guess I could have got out of the taxi and walked a couple of blocks and found another taxi to take another route, but I figured I was safer where I was, and I didn’t really want to abandon the taxi driver).

Later that evening I read the news and discovered that there had been violent clashes and property damage at a protest in Kathmandu that afternoon. One protester and one journalist had died as a result of injuries incurred during the protest. Buildings had been set alight. Protestors and police had clashed.

After further investigation I discovered that this was not the protest I had been caught up in. The two protests started at the same time in different parts of the city, the one I saw ended peacefully after some speeches. The other did not.

I do not know enough about either protest, the questions raised, the opinions stated, the political or social consequences, the groups involved, the agendas of the groups involved, the behaviour of the protesters / onlookers / security etc to be able to comment at all on either protest.

What I do know, is that peaceful protest is a key component of a healthy civil society. Protests can easily and quickly become violent due to bad actors on any side, mob mentality, accident or mishap. And I know that violent protests must be a terribly scary thing to be involved in. There is an onus on protestors to maintain order amongst themselves whilst protesting and an obligation on security representatives to maintain order without being heavy-handed. But I can certainly see how things could escalate exceedingly rapidly despite the best efforts of both groups.

Needless to say, I hope all my future encounters with protest are peaceful.