The Campaign for Judicial Accountability organised a public protest on the judicial assets declaration case outside the Supreme Court yesterday. Among various independent activists, students and lawyers who lent support at today’s demonstration, notably present were Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Ms. Aruna Roy, Mr. Nikhil Dey, Ms. Arundhati Roy, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Gautam Navlakha, Dr. Anoop Saraya, Dr. Bhasker Rao, Mr. Indu Prakash Singh, Mr. Promod Chawla, Ms. Madhu Keeshwar and others. This public protest is yet another indicator that the judiciary is no longer sacrosanct in public eyes, and that it will be judged by the same harsh rules that we use to judge politicians. As this poster proclaims rather rhetorically, the days of judicial exceptionalism in our public imagination may be over.
Speaking of protests, it was a bit sad that our blog completely ignored the Pink Chaddis Campaign launched by the Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Forward Women; even as the blogosphere debated it passionately for weeks. Does democracy need to think of creative ways to protest (of course, without giving up the right to take to streets)? Or is it just the ‘upper-middle-class’ which doesn’t want to take to streets trying to find a voice? Are these protests more effective, if only because they attract greater media attention? (Ram Sene withdrew its proposed agitation against Valentine’s Day in Bangalore, but now plans to sue the campaign.) See also, Blank Noise campaign against sexual harrassment.
