Telangana police seems to be using the Model Code of Conduct as an excuse for not allowing the general public to gather or organise peaceful protests. This assertion is incorrect, as there is no comprehensive prohibition on organising peaceful gatherings and assemblies for political or other purposes during this period. The Model Code of Conduct should be understood as a set of guidelines for political organisation, not as a means to curtail meetings and processions.
The Model Code of Conduct is divided into eight parts with guidelines for different scenarios on how political parties should conduct themselves during the elections. These guidelines are primarily for political parties and not for the general public. Within the guidelines, two particular sections are for meetings and processions. These guidelines give instructions on how to hold meetings and processions to avoid any form of quarrel or disturbances including to traffic and general public.
The guidelines for political meetings are as follows:
- The party or candidate shall inform the local police authorities of the venue and time of any proposed meeting well in time so as to enable the police to make necessary arrangements for controlling traffic and maintaining peace and order.
- A party or candidate shall ascertain in advance if there is any restrictive or prohibitory order in force in the place proposed for the meeting. If such orders exist, they shall be followed strictly. If any exemption is required from such orders, it shall be applied for and obtained well in time.
- If permission or licence is to be obtained for the use of loudspeakers or any other facility in connection with any proposed meeting, the party or candidate shall apply to the authority concerned well in advance and obtain such permission or licence.
- Organisers of a meeting shall invariably seek the assistance of the police on duty for dealing with persons disturbing a meeting or otherwise attempting to create disorder. Organisers themselves shall not take action against such persons.
These guidelines are designed for political parties to organise their meetings so as not to cause any problems to other political groups, and to seek the help of police to organise meetings in such a manner that do not create any disorder.
Essentially, these are guidelines that allow political meetings and don’t prevent them in any way. While these guidelines are designed for political parties, any group that wants to host a meeting during the election cycle would have to follow them as the police are required to manage large political gatherings.
Similarly, there are guidelines for holding processions:
- A party or candidate organising a procession shall decide beforehand the time and place of the starting of the procession, the route to be followed and the time and place at which the procession will terminate. There shall ordinarily be no deviation from the programme.
- The organisers shall give advance intimation to the local police authorities of the programme so as to enable the latter to make necessary arrangements.
- The organisers shall ascertain if any restrictive orders are in force in the localities through which the procession has to pass, and shall comply with the restrictions unless exempted specially by the competent authority. Any traffic regulations or restrictions shall also be carefully adhered to.
- The organisers shall take steps in advance to arrange for passage of the procession so that there is no block or hindrance to traffic. If the procession is very long, it shall be organised in segments of suitable lengths, so that at convenient intervals, especially at points where the procession has to pass road junctions, the passage of held up traffic could be allowed by stages thus avoiding heavy traffic congestion.
- Processions shall be so regulated as to keep as much to the right of the road as possible and the direction and advice of the police on duty shall be strictly complied with.
- If two or more political parties or candidates propose to take processions over the same route or parts thereof at about the same time, the organisers shall establish contact well in advance and decide upon the measures to be taken to see that the processions do not clash or cause hindrance to traffic. The assistance of the local police shall be availed of for arriving at a satisfactory arrangement. For this purpose the parties shall contact the police at the earliest opportunity.
- The political parties or candidates shall exercise control to the maximum extent possible in the matter of processionists carrying articles which may be put to misuse by undesirable elements especially in moments of excitement.
- The carrying of effigies purporting to represent members of other political parties or their leaders, burning such effigies in public and such other forms of demonstration shall not be countenanced by any political party or candidate.
Again, these guidelines for processions do not stop any political or citizen group from hosting a rally or procession. These guidelines are in place to allow political parties to conduct themselves in a ‘model’ way to not to cause any harm to the general public or create disorder.
None of these guidelines stop the police from granting permissions to organise a rally or a protest meeting. This idea that the election code does not allow people to hold a peaceful protest is wrong. It is in fact the responsibility of the police to protect peaceful protests being disturbed by political factions that want to create disorder.
There is no reason why a solidarity protest or march cannot happen expressing solidarity with Palestine or any other citizen issue that is of importance to the general public.
Election cycles are the time to express dissent and organising of the citizenry cannot be stopped by the police by giving ‘random’ excuses. There cannot be a blanket ban on protests ever under India’s constitutional framework. It is our right to organise and express ourselves with peaceful assembly.
The Telangana police are conveniently pushing for a ‘no protest policy’ of the state government even during the model code of conduct. The police must be questioned for their arbitrary enforcement of the inapplicable law.
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