Deafening silence of civil societies’ inactivism in Bengaluru

In mute mode

Even though Bengaluru has a vibrant civil society, the last three years witnessed very few large-scale protests on civic issues.

Born after the successful campaign against the steel flyover in 2016, ‘Citizens for Bengaluru,’ a grassroots people’s movement, has been inactive for a while.

While the tech capital is plagued with a host of issues from bad roads to floods and the massacring of trees to the absence of an elected council, the voice of dissent is largely and visibly missing.

The IT hub saw the last major protest way back in March 2019, when close to 1,000 citizens had assembled in Maurya Circle to voice their protest against the 102-km-long elevated corridor.

While the three successive waves of Covid-19 threw a spanner in such movements, the last year did not record major protests, barring a few that were very local in nature.

From #SteelFlyoverBeda and #ChukuBukuBeku to #NadeyaluBidi and #BusBhagyaBeku, the period between October 2016 and March 2019 saw active citizen campaigns that created awareness about the importance of much-neglected footpaths, public transportation and how flyovers were not solving traffic congestion.

Besides these, an organized campaign by a host of residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) have given a fillip to the lesser-known ward committees, which are now present in a majority of the wards.

Issues such as floods in Mahadevapura, multiple pothole deaths, the missing master plan, the axing of over 50 full-grown trees near Palace Grounds and the delay in holding BBMP polls did not move collective consciousness.

Tara Krishnaswamy, who has now moved on from Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), said the new generation should take the lead.

“The ones who led the protest against the demolition of Balabrooie Guest House (in 2014) were not the same as those who organized the ‘steel flyover beda’ campaign. New folks should start picking from where we stopped,” she said.

The government’s attitude towards protesting citizens, Krishnaswamy said, may have prompted some citizens to stay quiet. She found selective support for civic campaigns, depending on which party was in power.

Concurring with the thought, Vijay Nishanth, urban conservationist, said he did not get support from active citizens including the MP (Member of Parliament), when BBMP was chopping trees on Palace Grounds.

“There was a genuine reason for holding a protest, but we could not mobilize people. I feel people are disoriented towards civic and environmental issues,” he said.

Srinivas Alavilli, the co-founder of CfB who now works for NGO Janaagraha, believes there are more people who care for Bengaluru than those who care either for Congress or BJP.

“The city saw the biggest movement against the steel flyover, but it will not be the last. As a lot more people are connected and aware of issues, we need to encourage new leaders. People are interested in supporting causes, but not leading campaigns,” he felt.

On HC order

“The High Court’s order to hold protests only at Freedom Park goes against the Constitution. It violates the right to assemble peacefully and the right to freedom of speech and expression. It does not make sense to hold a protest against Sankey Road flyover at Freedom Park,” Vinay K Sreenivasa, advocate and researcher at Alternative Law Forum said.

“There has been an all-round assault, from weakening BBMP to poor condition of roads and the delay in holding BBMP elections. When one has to fight even for basic rights, the attention gets divided. This could also be the reason for the fewer number of mass movements,” he said.