05 July,2019 05:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Anoop Gidwani
Roll back to 2014 when protesters led the 'Occupy Central' movement in HK. They occupied the central business district of HK with one major demand, that HK elects its leader like the rest of the democracies in the world (currently HK's leader is elected through an electoral college comprising 1,200 people). They wanted more of a role in electing their leader. The protests went on for more than two months and were tremendously inconvenient for the public, mobility, the economy. They lost the sympathy of the people. The protesteors also did not get much out of them.
The current protests are different. Protesters are concentrating on one area, one building at a time. Here, too, these are mainly youth, using their break from college/universities to participate. There is a great deal of frustration among youth in HK. Once out of university, opportunities are slim, salaries are not commensurate with living standards and upward mobility limited. Buying property is out of the question, with real estate prices being some of the highest in the world. As a result, youths live with their parents in 300 to 400 sq feet homes. We may draw parallels to Mumbai. Yet, in Mumbai younger people have the option of leaving SoBo, Bandra and move far away geographically.
These protests of course show a huge trust deficit between these young people and the HK government. The protesters believe that the HK Govt is a puppet of China. The Extradition Bill which stands suspended has been the current trigger for these protests. HK has an extradition treaty with 20 countries, India included. This Bill sought to make HK have a formal extradition agreement with China. This is a valid point. The handling of the Bill though was messy. Due to stalling by the opposition, the Bills Committee made little progress, so the government decided to bypass the usual committee level deliberations and intended to table it before the Legislative Council for the second reading. Opponents of the Bill felt there was a hidden agenda of the government to push through this legislation.
Freeze unease
There is a huge mistrust issue and even the HK Govt did not expect that one million people would take to the streets in a protest on June 12. The protesters are a visible manifestation of the deep suspicion some people in HK have about China. There was speculation and rumours circulating , that reports surfaced that China's People Liberation Army (PLA) disguised as HK law enforcement officers were brought in to control the protests. The oxygen of irresponsible social media speculation fuelled such alarm and conspiracy theories were being spun faster than a charkha at Formula One speed. It is reported that several foreigners (including Indians) in HK are thinking of moving their investments out of HK and into Singapore, so great is the fear of China freezing their investments. The immediate challenge would be to tackle the protests from a law and order perspective. The long term solution is to convince people, especially youngsters that HK makes its own political decisions, has space for dissent and democracy and is a ideal example of the one country two systems model.
As told to Hemal Ashar
Anoop Gidwani is a Mumbaikar living in Hong Kong since 35 years.
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