The Right to Differ

Context: Indians need to place basic moral norms above their political preferences for creative possibilities in a democracy.

Concerns associated with protests:

• The political spectrum judges a person not by his adherence to basic constitutional norms but by the political stand they take on any issue.  

• Ignored Human Rights: by those who sought to suppress the anti-CAA protests 
• Wrong precedence: Once suppression of protest is validated, in the future anyone can be arrested for his protest to uphold the Constitution.
• Elimination of creative possibilities: If people protesting are behind bars.

• Lack of focus on means: Political life is controlled by powerful forces who focus only on ends instead of means.

• No public clamor: For the criminal prosecution of those who advocated violence against those opposing the CAA. 

Way forward:

• Human rights and civil liberties movement needs to make room for people who might be politically incorrect. 
• No political untouchability: for people who disagree on a specific issue, they might be capable of speaking truth to power and stand firm to assert the right to dissent. 

• Eg. It should be possible for someone who is in favor of CAA to also oppose the arrest of protesters.

• Shifting of perspectives can be possible as long as all sides of the dispute are together.