Citizens should protest on the streets, not just post online: Justice Gautam Patel

Panaji: Retired justice Gautam Patel advised people not to merely sign online petitions and believe that their responsibility as citizens ends there. He cautioned against limiting activism to just social media platforms.“Don’t put comments on X and on Twitter and Facebook and think the job is done. It isn’t. The job is on the streets. The job is in Azad Maidan,” he said, stressing that real change requires active public participation and presence on the ground.“I am the last one to advocate a revolution or a revolt of any sort, but I do expect that every citizen must know her and his rights and must be prepared to defend these loudly and together. Courts should be the last resort, not the first,” he said, urging people to first assert their rights collectively before turning to legal remedies.