It’s been a month since protestors started picketing outside the prime minister’s official residence at Baluwatar, seeking justice for the victims of gendered violence, and lately, an end to the culture of impunity. There are two ways to look at Occupy Baluwatar campaign so far. If judged by its inability to get to the bottom of its signature cases like Chhori Maiya Tamang, Sita Rai and Saraswati Subedi, the movement has been a failure. In one month since the start of the protest, no headway has been made in these cases. The protest, it might be argued, is also a failure for not being able to pull big crowds, as seen in political rallies. Moreover, there have been sporadic rumors of NGOs/INGOs bankrolling the movement. But the remarkable thing about this spontaneous movement is that each of the criticisms leveled against it only highlights its much bigger strengths.
Yes, the movement might not have been successful in helping the victims of violence directly, but the relentless campaign for justice has awakened a whole generation of youth to the perils of gender-based crimes. At the ongoing Baluwatar movement, it is hard to remain untouched by the sight of little girls banging away pots and pans to get their message across to the authorities long accustomed to turning a deaf ear to people’s concerns. (Tomorrow, these same youths will drive other worthy campaigns for social justice.) It is as hard not to catch a whiff of the great enthusiasm with which people with various handicaps are taking part in the movement; many of them were injured in scuffles with the police on Friday.
Journalists, lawyers, foreign nationals, school children, third-gender community, one gets to meet people from all walks of life at the daily protests. Most of them are there not because they stand to gain something, but because they feel it is important to support a worthy cause. For their part, the detractors, bedazzled by the great spectacle and failing to understand what’s in it for the protestors, are busy spotting hidden agendas. Also, the absence of politicians shouting to amass bigger crowds is a strength rather than weakness of any social campaign. It shows that people don’t need politicians to mobilize for a worthy cause.
The protests for justice are likely to continue in one form or the other indefinitely.
Ironically, what lends the movement its strength is also one of its weaknesses. Despite the best intention of the protestors, there is always the danger that the movement might fizzle out, especially since it is being carried out without any monetary support from government or non-government sector. But Occupy Baluwatar has already got such traction among the people and the media that it is hard to see it going down with a whimper.
The protests for justice are likely to continue in one form or the other indefinitely, so long as a credible mechanism to safeguard women’s rights, backed by strong laws, is not in place. Through their unbending stand against an unheeding state, and the moral pressure they have been able to build on the government, the movement has already achieved a great deal. We would like to see it go all the way.
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