Right to protest

The protests in Paris, initially by students, appears to have been joined by more radical groups and the protests have become dangerous riots.

This pattern appears in a number of countries where a protest becomes a tool for extremist groups to use. In Australia a number of protests about the wars have been hijacked by far right activists.

In the US the January 6 riots were seen, by sensible observers, to be an attack on democracy by extremists as well.

In my experience of student protests and teacher union marches it was just us, the supporters of a single issue that marched. We were not joined by the extremes of the left or right.

It is, in many but certainly not all countries, an opportunity for the normal people to speak up when the ballot box is not available. We must protect our right to protest without hindrance, or being used by extremists, or we will lose our right to protest. Fight for the right to fight for your worries.

Dennis Fitzgerald,
Australia