"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." — Martin Luther King Jr.
We bengalis are often confronted by a notion that we have lost the spirit of our ancestors when it comes to protesting against injustice. We are accused of having sold our spines to those in power or of being divided by different boundaries like caste, creed, religion and of course, political parties. I would have agreed to the same even a month ago, but August 14th, 2024, has changed the scenario entirely. Bengalis have found their lost backbone again.
On Wednesday, August 14th, the whole of India witnessed an extraordinary protest activity at West Bengal, named as 'Reclaim the Night' ('Raat dokhol koro', in bengali). This protest was in response to the rape and murder of a Junior Doctor inside a govt medical college (R. G Kar Medical College & Hospita) at Kolkata. The entire state of West Bengal, from the Sunderbans to Darjeeling, saw common mass led primarily by women taking over the roads and streets by evening to demand justice for the late doctor, and to ensure safety for themselves. And it wasn't just women, men & childen too participated actively in the movement to demand justice for their fallen "doctor sister". While the movement was initially called for a few places at Kolkata, it soon spread to every corner of the state. The movement grew so large that protests occurred not only across West Bengal but also in major cities throughout India, and even abroad. Several historians and statisticians have already described this as the largest apolitical protest in post-independence India. And the best thing is that these protests were not confined to only a single night of counterblast, several such activities have been repeated in the following days and are still happening.
But if we delve into the lanes of history, we'll find this 'Reclaim the Night' movement not something absolutely new. These marches were part of the women's liberation movement in England which was inspired from the marches taken place in the American state of Philadelphia in the year 1975 when a woman was murdered walking home from work. This movement spread throughout the streets of Europe during 1970s-1990s in protests of violence against women. India witnessed its first such protestin 2012 in response to Nirbhaya rape and murder case in Delhi. Although that march wasn’t as widespread across the country, it introduced India to a new form of protest: one that was apolitical, banner-free, and solely focused on demanding justice.
When injustice becomes law, the common people realizes that resistance too becomes their duty. When they understand that the same crime could have happened to them, the decide to resist. They tore down all their boundaries of political party, caste, creed or religion, united in a single demand- Justice. Justice for the one who is no longer with us, and safety for all.
This leaves us bigger question to ponder: Why do we always need incidents like the Nirbhaya case or the R. G Kar case to unite people around two simple demand- justice, and safety of woman?
Long live such apolitical protests.
Long live those people, who still have a spine, who still know how to protest and resist again injustice.
"When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty." — Thomas Jefferson.
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