Uniform discipline

After all the first,fraught confrontations between the Delhi police and Anna Hazare’s team,it must be said that both sides backed off and cooperated in ensuring that this protest went off with minimal tension. The police renegotiated its agreement with Team Anna,allowing in as many people as Ramlila grounds could take,permitting loudspeakers and tents and parking space,and allowing all this for an extendable 15-day stretch.

And as the days went by,the numbers swelled,emotions ran high,but there was a palpable sense of security in the Ramlila grounds and surrounding areas. Temporarily,it created a public square of the kind that out cities sorely miss,a place for speeches and songs,a place to gather together. It was often boisterous,often angry,but it felt safe. And while the commitment and discipline of the protesters must be applauded,this is in no small part because of the remarkable effectiveness of Delhi’s police. They set up unobtrusive security checks,politely gave directions,and allowed this carnivalesque protest to go on with minimal interference.

Of course,for all its purported Gandhian methods,there were some in the Anna movement who got carried away by the anti-establishment energy of it all,there were people who got drunk and made trouble,who harassed and heckled others on the street,Anna topi-wearing gangs of motorcyclists listing and weaving through the roads of central Delhi. The police moved in swiftly and efficiently,putting in extra barricades,arresting a few hundred traffic violators. Overall,over the last ten days,we witnessed a new standard in public order policing,one that respected a group’s democratic right to raise hell,and ensured that this goal was achieved with the least inconvenience to others.