21st Century Protests

"Step down Hasina"

"Do less drama, dear"

"They made it seem as though those present in the riots were against the country’s administrative and economical weaknesses, while on the contrary, their goal was not to eliminate the weaknesses, but to destroy the country’s strengths."

"People are so desperate, so angry and hopeless, they might even welcome an attack on Iran."

"We're no longer going back where Iran and Iranian people were four weeks ago."

"We all know that for the regime, religion, gendered discrimination and violence, under the banner of the compulsory veil, are tools for the depredation and oppression of not only women, but also us workers and all the people who live in Iran. Compulsory veiling must be dismantled."

"Struggle will continue because it is a humane demand, and there is excellent solidarity around the issue. The result will be rewarding."

"The first thing the regime did was take that symbol away. But we’re all descendants of shir zan, of warrior women, in my opinion. It’s the reason this revolution is led by women now."

"The executions amounted to "state sanctioned killing"."

"We'll make life for security offenders difficult, difficult , difficult."

"I’d like to live in a society where when I submit a résumé for a job, I’m not asked to submit a full-length picture of myself and probably expected to sleep with my boss."

"The courage of the Iranians is incredible. And the regime's brute force is an expression of sheer fear of the power of education and freedom."

"That seedling Islamic republic is a mighty tree now and no one should dare think they can uproot it."

"I say that these riots and insecurities were engineered by the U.S., the usurping and fake Zionist regime, their paid agents, and certain treasonous Iranians abroad supported them."

"What was different this time was the show a solidarity by the women against a common cause of repealing Hijab as the exclusive."

"Protests stop today."

"Regardless of the short-term results of the protest movement, it is clear that the TikTok generation is fed up with the environment of multi-layered hypocrisy that it has grown up in."

"#Mahsa amini in farsi has been tweeted historic record 200-300 million tweets."

"Reports that Iran’s so-called morality police are again cracking down to enforce mandatory hijab. It seems the regime has learned nothing from the protests."

"At least think of your own survival. Fear poor peoples revolution."

"No country allows its government to fall."

"Legaly those who participated in protests have corruption on earth charges , Bagh-ye, Muharabe. It is legal to kill them."

"Jins have activated."

"Americans told us they don't want to topple."

"Smart facial recognition for hijab is not reversible."

"We haven't just won Dilli, we have won over the hearts of people."

"Some of the sturdier structures set up at the protest site are yet to be removed. Once those are cleared tomorrow, the rubble on the road removed, and repairs done, it might be possible to consider opening the highway to traffic two days later."

"I congratulate the farmers on their victory today. But, 700 farmers lost their lives during their year-long protest against farm laws. We will always stand with and for the farmers."

"After the announcement of the repeal of the three farm laws, there is no point in continuing farmers' agitation. I urge farmers to end their agitation and go home."

"We have discussed the repeal of farm laws. After this, some decisions were taken. The pre-decided programmes of the SKM (Sanyukta Kisam Morcha, an umbrella body of farmers) will continue as it is."

"It was November 26, 2020. While removing the barricades, Haryana Police had hit me with batons on my shoulder, knees and thighs but instead of running away, I stayed there with deep bruises and injuries. Noticing the police brutality, youth got provoked and they shielded me. I still get goosebumps whenever people ask me about that day. But I am a happy farmer today because we fought hard to save our lands and earned a victory."

"It is an emotional moment for us. We never thought it will be this hard to go back home as we have established a deep connection with the people and the place. This agitation will be in our memories forever."

"Today is just a day to remember that for the last one year, the meaning of Chardham has changed in our country. People from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu used to come and say that they wanted to do a yatra of four places -- the Singhu border, the Tikri border, the Ghazipur border and the Shahjahanpur border. These (protest sites) had become Chardham for the country."

"Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken the unprecedented step of invoking the Emergencies Act to crack down on anti-vaccine mandate protests... Critics have noted that the prime minister voiced support for farmers in India who blocked major highways to New Delhi for a year in 2021, saying at the time: "Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protest.""

"In the , Nyamavhuvhu (August) signals the end of winter. The strong winds carry away the frost as they usher in the warmth of summer. With the silent strength of a new season, public discontent towards President ’s failing policies sweeps across Zimbabwe, manifesting itself through mounting displeasure and the growing threat of civil unrest. On the streets of the capital, , a middle-aged woman lies unconscious on the asphalt. An uncanny silence hangs in the air, punctuated only by the sound of water cannons patrolling the street and a sea of riot police conversing in hushed tones with each other. The blue-helmeted police, a signature of the Robert Mugabe era, march in straight lines through the central business district. Businesses are closed. Thick clouds of off-white teargas fill the sky. An old, grey-haired man who is left behind by the fleeing crowd is kicked in the ribs by two police officers and dragged by his side. A young man who tries to assist the stricken woman is arrested and bundled into a police truck. Elsewhere, Red Cross volunteers attend to an old woman who has suffered injuries to her head after being beaten."

"People are increasingly dissatisfied with the impact of failing economic policies, a broken public health system, the soaring prices of basic goods and the collapse of . They had been waiting in preparation for a protest march organised by the Movement for Democratic Change at Africa Unity Square, a garden in the heart of . In this same garden, just a few years ago, stood as a lone protester calling for Mugabe to go."

"Protesters chanted songs similar to those sung during the liberation struggle. They sat in the middle of the road, in an act of peaceful protest. As they sat, a wave of baton-wielding riot police charged at them in an attempt to disperse the growing crowd. Many, including older people and women, who could not run away as fast as the more youthful protesters, were badly beaten. The violent police clampdown is just the latest action in a tale of unbroken state repression that continues from Mugabe’s era."

"The perpetrators have yet to be indicted or held accountable for the loss of life, despite a theatrical commission of inquiry launched by Mnangagwa in a bid to repair his already crumbling international image."

"The people of Hong Kong are bravely standing up to the Chinese Communist Party as Beijing tries to encroach on their autonomy and freedom. Any violent crackdown would be completely unacceptable. As I have said on the Senate floor: The world is watching."

"Swedish activist Greta Thunberg... urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be "brave" in the fight against global warming as she sought to breathe fresh life into a climate movement overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic. The 17-year-old... was joined by co-campaigners Luisa Neubauer from Germany and Belgium's Anuna De Wever and Adelaide Charlier, all of whom wore masks as they made their way to the chancellery from Berlin's main train station. During 90 minutes of talks, the young campaigners said they urged Merkel to tackle carbon emissions with the same urgency and drastic measures that leaders have displayed in the battle against COVID-19. "We want leaders... to be brave enough to think long-term," Thunberg told an outdoor press conference after the meeting. "We want leaders to step up and take responsibility and treat the climate crisis like a crisis." She said Merkel, as the current chair of the EU rotating presidency, had a "huge responsibility but also a huge opportunity" to help the European Union meet its commitments under the Paris climate agreement."

"We can have as many meetings as we like, but the will to change is nowhere in sight. Society must start treating this as a crisis...On Thursday 20 August, it will be exactly two years since the first school strike for the climate took place.... Today, leaders all over the world are speaking of an “existential crisis”. The climate emergency is discussed on countless panels and summits. Commitments are being made, big speeches are given. Yet, when it comes to action we are still in a state of denial. The climate and ecological crisis has never once been treated as a crisis. The gap between what we need to do and what’s actually being done is widening by the minute. Effectively, we have lost another two crucial years to political inaction.... We understand the world is complicated and that what we are asking for may not be easy or may seem unrealistic. But it is much more unrealistic to believe that our societies would be able to survive the global heating we’re heading for – as well as other disastrous ecological consequences of today’s business as usual... This mix of ignorance, denial and unawareness is at the very heart of the problem... The only way forward is for society to start treating the crisis like a crisis... We can still avoid the worst consequences. But to do that, we have to face the climate emergency and change our ways. And that is the uncomfortable truth we cannot escape."

"Many people in the US aren't aware of the youth climate movement that was started by 16-year-old Swede Greta Thunberg in August 2018 and has inspired students in countries all across the world to come together to protest for climate action weekly. But the fact that Fridays for Future (FFF) is less well known stateside doesn't mean that young activists in the US are less passionate... On a rainy Friday in Washington, DC, a small group of teens sit on a fountain on the western side of the Capitol with a clear view of the Washington Monument. Madeline Graham, 16, is prepping her fellow protesters for potential trouble. The Capitol Police might tell them to leave, she says to the five or so protesters around her, but they should stay right where they are. "We have a right to be here,"... Graham firmly believes that the young movement can bring about change in the US. "Any politician who underestimates us won't underestimate us for much longer," she said. "You can't hide from righteous anger." The focus of Friday's protest was the fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest."

"Swedish climate leader Greta Thunberg donned a mask and joined a socially distanced Fridays for Future protest in Berlin just a day after she and three other youth activists met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose government took over the European Council presidency in July, to discuss the planetary emergency... Tweeting about the meeting with the chancellor, Fridays for Future Berlin wrote that "conversations must be followed by deeds—that's why we take to the streets together!""

"On Thursday, two years to the day after Greta Thunberg first skipped school, she is to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Joining her will be Luisa Neubauer, Anuna de Wever and Adélaïde Charliér, fellow members of the global movement sparked by Thunberg's lone protest against climate change. The four Fridays for Future activists are to use their hour-and-a-half audience with the Chancellor to present a letter demanding EU leaders "stop pretending that we can solve the climate- and ecological crisis without treating it as a crisis."... Signed by nearly 125,000 people, the letter demands an immediate halt to investments and subsidies in fossil fuels. Fridays for Future is also calling for Germany to bring forward its deadline to phase out coal from 2038 to 2030, and to go carbon-neutral by 2035 instead of 2050. "The system is not broken, it was built to be unjust. We don't need recovery, we need a reboot," the letter reads, stressing that "black people, indigenous peoples and people of color," have been disproportionately hit by the economic, climate and coronavirus crises... The ministers were criticized for failing to relieve the debt of poorer countries, and according to Energy Policy Tracker, G20 countries have pledged $169 billion (142 billion euros) to fossil fuels since the beginning of the pandemic."