Opinion | What Hong Kong’s largely peaceful protesters can teach demonstrators in India

As an Indian, I have been watching the unfolding protests in Hong Kong with interest. Like in Hong Kong, protests in India are often motivated by anger towards the government.

In June 2018, Indian farmers highlighted their dire economic circumstances by dumping produce on highways, suggesting that selling their harvest was as good as throwing it away. In November, farmers from across the country undertook a massive rally to New Delhi, demanding a special parliamentary session to discuss the agrarian crisis.

For example, there have recently been protests by communities, such as the Patidars in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana and Marathas in Maharashtra, demanding the government reserve seats in educational institutions and government jobs for them. Tribal communities have also protested against the loss of their identity and way of life due to their land being usurped.

Large-scale protests in India, especially those that are identity-based, tend towards violence – people mauling each other, innocent people being beaten, police thrashing and shooting protesters and protesters destroying property. The 2018 farmers’ march, the 2012 protests after the gang-rape of a woman in New Delhi and the India Against Corruption protests of 2011 are rare examples of mass non-violent protests.