Sir: Not long after I boarded a taxi, the driver having sighted a road safety checkpoint ahead, tugged at his seatbelt to escape being booked. The grin on his face mocked his violent obstinacy with a seatbelt that was programmed to yield only to a gentle pull. The mechanism for effectively dealing with civil protests and agitations is programmed like the seat belt of a car. At times, authorities faced with such civil situations tend to restore ‘peace’ with coercion. Could an agitating civil rights group have been engaged without neutralizing its leadership or sponsoring a counter-protest?

Source: The Guardian May 01, 2022 01:59 UTC