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Gandhi’s real lesson for Hong Kong in the midst of protests: cowardice is worse than using violence
- Why lambast protesters’ violence but not the government coercion that led to it, or the failure to punish triad attacks?
- We should keep in mind that Gandhi promoted non-violence, but his greatest contempt was for those who cower in the face of injustice
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Why you can trust SCMP
Accusations of violence against both protesters and police have been a constant in the Hong Kong protests. Perhaps we need to turn to great minds like Mahatma Gandhi for some perspective.
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First, the Hong Kong government should be held responsible for the escalation of violence after trying to push through the extradition bill that would have subjected Hongkongers to Beijing’s arbitrary jurisdiction. In early June, more than a million people took to the streets to express their concern, only for the government to proceed with a second reading.
The violence really escalated after July 21, when more than 100 armed men in white shirts attacked civilians and passengers in Yuen Long MTR station.
That attack was a watershed because the possible collusion between police and triads has never been seriously addressed. So far, more than 30 triad members have been arrested but only two are confirmed to have been charged with a crime. On the protesters’ side, more than 500 have been charged and more than 5,000 arrested. Is this justice?
To be fair, protesters have resorted to violence as well, though on a lesser scale. But do they have alternatives?
The “umbrella movement” in 2014 simply asked for what Hongkongers had been promised: universal suffrage to elect their own leaders. But all thet achieved was a much more aggressive and oppressive intervention from Beijing, culminating in the disappearance of five booksellers.
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