INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The disturbing images of peaceful protesters across the United Kingdom being arrested by police for simply criticizing the British monarchy
is yet another reminder of how the UK is not a democratic society and freedom of speech is not respected in the country as its leaders
claim.The irony is that many people are being denied the right to speak out against an unelected and undemocratic institution, which
by a minor - has been charged by police.Another person arrested was a 22-year-old woman carrying a sign calling for the abolition of the
24-hour media campaign with royal family propaganda.The police now have new powers under the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and
Courts Act which allows the police to arrest lone protesters if the officers think their actions are a disruption
The criteria is very broad and in essence means anyone staging a protest now faces the risk of arrest.Campaigners say there appear to be
some fear among authorities that the public anger over King Charles's accession to the crown will grow if dissent is allowed during the
funeral services of Queen Elizabeth, who died last Thursday at the age of 96.The arrest campaign has prompted a backlash from rights groups,
statement.Graham Smith with the campaign group Republic said "we condemn these arrests in the strongest possible terms
Free speech is fundamental to any democracy
At a time when the media is saturated with fawning over a king appointed without discussion or consent, it is even more important.""We will
be writing to police forces around the country, raising these concerns
We intend to organize protests at the coronation and will expect those protests to be allowed to go ahead peacefully."He adds that "despite
wall-to-wall coverage by broadcasters, in which the monarchy has been debated without republican voices being heard, republicans are being
galvanized by the accession of Charles to the throne.""With support for the monarchy already falling - and support for abolition now over
25% - we expect this movement to grow rapidly over the next few years."The police arrests seem to have energized the anti-monarchy sentiment
as different groups say they will be staging fresh protests in the lead up to Elizabeth's state funeral next Monday and King Charles's
In response to the crackdown on non-violent protests, blank banners or white pieces of paper have been seen in new protests as concerns are
mounting about the behavior of police.Climate Camp Scotland, which protests against fossil fuels and for climate justice, said a protest on
Tuesday was held because of the people who had been arrested in Scotland for simply holding a placard.They said supporters of the group
"quietly held up blank banners and placards in solidarity with people arrested in Edinburgh and elsewhere in the UK for protesting the
monarchy."The anti-imperialism group Global Majority VS, which is supporting one of the arrested protesters in Scotland, accused police of
criminalizing freedom of speech, saying there was a "concerted effort to silence the voices of the masses".In a statement via the
anti-imperialism group, a Mexican native who is a student in Edinburgh said: "on the morning of the 11th of September 2022, I was wrongfully
arrested while exercising my right to protest at the Proclamation of King Charles III in Edinburgh
Silently holding a sign ..
I condemn the centuries of colonial injustice, genocide and unlawful extraction that have been and continue to be carried out in the name of
the British Crown."As a Mexican person living in the UK, I strongly opposed the continuous resource extraction and exploitation of
racialized bodies in the global south that has been made possible through systems of imperial oppression
and all human and people's rights."This is a struggle of all colonized peoples against the ruling classes' ongoing colonization of our
lands, resources.Furthermore, the group argues that "calling for the abolition of the monarch is as old as the monarchy itself and a
cornerstone of freedom of speech in the UK
This establishment is committed to repress our true people's power to call out the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Crown
and the establishment."Many more have voiced their criticism on social media posting material objecting the role of the monarchy on the
refers to Elizabeth overseeing the colonial oppression of the professor's country Nigeria and the colonial power's instigation of the civil
war over there, which resulted in the murder of many of the professor's own family members.While her post was quickly brought down, there
does appear to be double standards in how people are allowed to discuss other violence and violence perpetrated or oversaw by Britain that
is represented by the royal family.Many have pointed out that the queen never used her role to speak out against violence committed during
was in bad taste, that no media outlet or analysts have discussed why so much anger was used to make such remarks and how verifiable the
actual accusations against the British monarchy are.
