Each election cycle brings in a government that chips away at whatever democratic ideals we have left. Yet, we vote every five years and display faith in our Constitution. To that end, the time to be a fence-sitter is over. To sit on a fence is to be politically flexible to whatever it is that suits you best, regardless of how it affects others.

We once lived in a time when we feared what the ISIS would upload each time a beheading took place. Now, we have the Christchurch attacks where a man livestreams a massacre. The video as evidence, but not shame, has become a part of the cycle of violence, and we’ve quietly accepted it as a part of 21st-century existence.

The original “Azaadi” song has been damaged beyond repair. Dub Sharma’s own upload has been taken off YouTube and replaced by the sanitised Gully Boy one, where Kanhaiya Kumar’s earnest appeals for freedom have been replaced by an unnamed protester asking azaadi from “bhedbhaav” and “pakshwaad”.

Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee ended her dharna against the BJP, amid claims that she had weakened the political tool of protesting. We may question Banerjee’s moral high ground, considering her own intolerance toward dissent, but to take her down only because she chose to protest is misguided.