Four Hong Kong activists have been sentenced up to 16 months in prison for their role in pro-democracy demonstrations. Four others received suspended sentences on Wednesday, while one had their sentencing deferred until June.
The nine activists were found guilty earlier this month over their involvement in the “Umbrella Movement”. Demonstrators paralysed Hong Kong in 2014 when they demanded the right for the territory to pick its leaders.
Sociology professor Chan Kin-man, 60, and law professor Benny Tai, 54, who helped set up the Occupy Central group both received 16-month prison sentences. The men are seen as the founders of the movement that galvanised protesters in their campaign of civil disobedience.
Sociology professor Chan Kin-man, 60, and law professor Benny Tai, 54, who helped set up the Occupy Central group both received 16-month prison sentences. The men are seen as the founders of the movement that galvanised protesters in their campaign of civil disobedience.
The protests started in reaction to a decision made by China that it would allow direct elections in 2017, but only from a list of candidates pre-approved by Beijing. Beijing is highly sensitive about Hong Kong’s status and any calls for more autonomy from China.
In 2014, the above two activists’ calls for non-violent civil disobedience joined student-led protests and snowballed into the massive demonstrations. Tens of thousands of people camped in the streets and demanded the right to fully free leadership elections.
The protests became known as the ‘Umbrella Movement’ after people used umbrellas to shield themselves from pepper spray fired by police to disperse the crowd. Protesters accused the Chinese government of breaking its promise to allow full democracy in Hong Kong, and of encroaching more and more on the region. But the number of protesters dwindled to just a few hundred as the weeks dragged on and they ultimately failed to achieve their goal.
We can see the difference between the professors who spearheaded the movement in Hong Kong and compare them to our academics. During the quota reform movement no professor was willing to take a stand with the students who wanted quota reform, a just demand. Similarly when the entire country was galvanised by the student protests against the road accident which killed two young students no professor of any university stood up to join them.
This is a state of moral delinquency–when the most respected members of society decide, either due to a fear of keeping their jobs or the fear that they would upset the establishment, or simply because they belong to a particular political party faction, that it would be better for them to keep their voices quiet instead of protesting massive social and other injustices.
The government has not yielded to the demands of Umbrella Movement. Yet what is significant is that the intellectuals of the country did not leave the matter only for political leaders to fight. Democratic right of election is the people’s right and in Hong Kong university professors and other intellectuals of their status have courted arrest and now sentenced to imprisonment by the court there.
Their participation in the ‘Umbrella Movement’ has sent a powerful message–that renowned academics were willing to stand up and spearhead movements against anti-establishment and for people’s democratic rights.
It is most unfortunate that our university professors and academics are party activists of undemocratic parties. They are proving selfish and self-centered with no care for the harsh realities in the country.
We want university professors to be exclusively teachers busy for improving quality of education. To be honest we want to see students launch a movement against teachers who are party activists. The teachers are not paid for being party activists. In DUCSU’s controversial election some teachers have been caught red-handed stealing votes.
