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A. Only Israel is being singled out.
B. Why a protest had to held at the venue where it took place
But even if one takes your version of events and your equivalency at face value - so what ? All you’ve established is that the IDF is as violent as Hamas. That doesn’t say anything about Hamas’s own moral virtue. If they’re both awful peoples who just kill each other - why should anyone be morally outraged by any of it ?
If your argument is in war the losing side is always more virtuous - well that’s just laughable moral equivocation that again substitutes morality with claimed powerlessness. Germany lost a lot more people in wwII than the United States ? Do you think that war was immoral ? These bite sized retorts from insta reels don’t allow for complex discussions of ethics or war and absolutely prevent any discussion of actual solutions. If you cared about Palestinian life or Israeli life - you’d want a two state solution with some sort of peace. Instead of trying to weigh up life against life and go through all of middle eastern history to litigate every conflict and war and decide who is oppressed and who is oppressor. That’s a useless exercise that has nothing to do with making things better today- much like this so called protest.
Here is video of the arrest. My read is- theyre not manhandling more than necessary. The protesters are resisting arrest. The police is allowed to use reasonable force when people who are doing illegal things- protesting outside of freedom park without permission- are resisting arrest. Theyre being almost gentle.
https://maktoobmedia.com/india/pro-palestine-protesters-detained-in-bengaluru-woman-says-cops-made-her-apologize-on-camera-manhandled-her/
Here are public comments from this professor. Sorry to say but she really does seem to be exaggerating. “Even before we could start speaking, our posters were snatched, and we were filled in a police van, and that was done while violating our dignity. Women were dragged and even manhandled by the male police officers.”
The police are under no obligation to let you continue to protest illegally. It hardly seems right to say you didnt start speaking because we can hear your party in the video sloganeering. The arrests seem to be done- at least from this video- without excessive force. According to SC decisions- male officers can arrest women in broad daylight if getting a female officer would take too long.
""the protesters, including her, were brutally and forcefully pushed inside the police vehicles like objects, and some of the officers were in civilian clothes and not wearing police uniforms."
If you dont go when the police officer asks you to- they can push you to get you into the van. Laws are not optional. You dont just have to follow them when you want to- you have to follow them even when you dont- because its the law. If these people had simply gone when the police asked them to- there wouldnt have been FIRs filed, it would have been simple detention and release. I have taken part in protests. there has to be a discipline to it, you can do it legally, you can do it peacefully- and no one will arrest you, when youre doing it illegally and the police arrest you- you can either physically resist or you can go with them and get released after a detention. If you physically resist, the police officer is allowed to use reasonable force.
It is surprising to me that these people dont know this- is there one seasoned protester among the bunch?
She said, “Inside the police station, I was beaten up by two male cops when I confronted them for behaving in an undemocratic manner. They also accused me of abusing them while I was just trying to remind them of their duties as per the law and that they are not supposed to act in a farcical manner, clenching dissent.”
She further said, “The cops made me apologize on camera and forcefully made me say that I was abusing them, and they recorded a video of it. Only then was I allowed to walk out of the detention.”
“Inside the police station, due to repeated attacks and physical police action, one of the detainees had passed out and another one had a concussion,” Baruah added.
“I and other people have sustained some serious injuries. Some of them ended up in the hospital after we were released late at night,” said the professor."
If this is true- its not defensible. But the professor does seem to be exaggerating- the facts would only come out at trial. The police is not a democratic institution, its the police, not parliament, not your university campus. Its their job to faithfully enforce the law, they do not have to listen to anyone except the chain of command. that said- the brutality allegations should be taken seriously and investigated.
"Bangalore police have booked all 15-20 people detained by them, invoking sections such as unlawful assembly and disturbing law and order, citing violation of the Karnataka High Court ruling of 2021, which only allows protests at Freedom Park. Baruah said, “The ruling in itself is contradictory to the law; protest cannot be contained in objects and spaces. I feel that protesting against the genocide happening in Gaza is a basic human decency that every human should feel right now. Every day we see images that are not even of complete human bodies. Mutilated, beheaded pictures of women, infants, and children surface every day. Every other moment of the day is just horrific to witness, and Palestinians are living this as reality. Voicing up, talking about it, protesting, and pushing our governments is the least we can do.”
It is surprising to hear a law professor so clearly misunderstand the law! Freedom of speech is not absolute in the country, the government absolutely can impose restrictions. And even if you disagree with those restrictions and think them unconstitutional, the proper course is to file an appeal. The proper course is not to violate laws you dont like and then claim you shouldnt be prosecuted! Laws are not optional.
Perhaps these protesters may find it to their benefit to put away their phones and do something else in the real world and gain some balance and perspective. Constantly looking at photos of bodies and violence on your phone is likely going to radicalise you and take you to some pretty dark places. Its not simply "witnessing" its ruminating and allowing this war to consume you, and honestly to radicalise you. It's a war- wars are horrible- Maybe shes too young to remember Kargil or to remember American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan- but it was awful. And in the fog of war only fools think theyve seen the whole truth. Especially when social media companies keep feeding you outrageous content to keep you using them, and when both sides have used disinformation and even AI generated images on the internet to further their propoganda.To claim that people who arent on your side lack basic decency - thats not an academic, thats an activist, academics should have greater complexity in their world view.
Protesting and pushing your government to do what? Does she really believe that india is complicit with the war in israel? We have been pretty clear on our foreign policy, Indian foreign policy has pretty consistently supported palestinians. What else would she have them do? put indian soldiers on the ground to fight IDF? How does 20 people protesting in a random street corner in frazer town translate to change in foreign policy? Does she even have a theory of change? This was a totally meaningless protest with no demands, well, except the demand for attention. This was performance art and not good performance art. Even the people passing them by on the street seem to be indifferent. I'm surprised that a law professor at the nations best law school behaves this way or says these things.
Later on in the article, a fellow protester says this : He added, “Chief Minister Siddaramiah acted as an accomplice to the Gaza violence by brutally and forcefully shutting down the pro-Palestine democratic voices in Bengaluru."
Holy projection batman! How badly do you want to be one of these victims in the videos youre constantly watching to think siddaramaiah is an accomplice to the violence in Gaza? This is so unimaginably deluded that I dont know whether to laugh or despair.
I want the war to stop - but to argue that Hamas didn’t start it or that Hamas is some resistance is honestly completely morally vacuous. If Hamas is not a terrorist organisation , neither is the alqaeda , the LeT, or the the KKK.
If “power” is the only way you’re gonna differentiate between good people and bad people - you have no understanding of ethics, morality, human agency or responsibility. If you’ve really allowed some flanderised version of post war French intellectualism to convince you there is no right or wrong there is only power - congratulations - you’re literally voldemort.
The newspaper report does make clear that people were arrested and FIRs have been filed.
Why is the left so preoccupied with Palestine?
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/two-firs-registered-against-pro-palestine-protesters/article68246975.ece
I am not implying Ms Baruah is stupid. On the contrary, her stupendous academic achievements place her intellect in the top 0.00000001% of India. But that can also be said of the many young protesters at Harvard and Columbia. A high intellect does not guarantee that one won’t engage in irrational behaviour and blindly follow trends. I’m sure even Harvard grads have made irrational mistakes like falling for cyber scams, or falling in love with con artists, or smoking and drinking themselves to death.
I am thus essentially calling participation in pro-Palestine protests as irrational. Because these protests do not look at the historical causes of the conflict and the violence perpetrated against Jews by Islamists. They also neglect to see the terrible atrocities being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists by China, against Kurdish Muslims by Turkey, against Hindus and Baluchi Muslims by Pakistan, etc. Protesting against these injustices isn’t seen as “trendy”.
The state government that controls the police in Bengaluru is headed by the congress party and CM siddaramaiah. The man is the leader of the AHINDA movement and has a history in civilian protests himself - he’s not a fascist.
If people were brutalised / hurt then it’s something that the police officers should be punished for- but if these people/ were resisting arrest when their illegal protest was broken up and they were apprehended , the police might have had to use reasonable force.
The arrest itself isn’t illegal and the rough treatment might be defensible if there was resistance to arrest.
Think like lawyers- not like twitter mobs.
Professors in the the countries best law school should likely learn and follow the law , and even if they are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause- consider more impactful ways to make a difference than screaming on some random street corner in Frazer Town. Like writing articles or giving lectures or organising conferences.
They might also consider caring a little more about more local issues where their talents are needed - why not go to Hassan Chalo instead ? And less about religious wars in far away countries that have been going on for hundreds of years.
https://x.com/ShutUpNLS/status/1797326307338113400
SCARY STUFF, fascism is here and now. Why wait for counting day.