Violence to protest against Violence?

As the public outrage against the brutal gangrape of the 23 year old continues, we have all seen one common mode of protest come to the fore - the so called "candlelight vigils" or "candlelight marches".

However, unlike the very nature of this mode of protest, the recent candlelight marches have turned violent. We see the news of water cannons, tear gas and lathicharges during these protests. We hear the statistics of civilians and police personnel injured, even 1 casualty in the case of police officer Tomar. But, the instant reaction is to hold the police responsible; without giving a thought as to why would police resort to such measures unnecessarily. There have been protests earlier, why didn't the police then use such measures in all protests, deterring the people in a democracy from exercising their right to freedom of speech. Or is it the case that this time over we are doing something wrong and the police is forced to resort to such extreme measures?

Don't get me wrong, I am not supporting the police force in Delhi or anywhere in India, for that matter. The law and order situation is all time worse than ever before. But I also feel that this time round, we are doing it all wrong. To protest against the pathetic law and order conditions, we are taking law in our hands. To protest against violence against women and children, we are becoming violent. We are not respecting the fact that peaceful but determined and patient protests get more things done. Only we need to be persistent and consistent. That is the nature of "candlelight marches". The candles are supposed to symbolize the awakening and knowledge and not anguish, even if it is rightly justified. Also, I am slightly curious as to why most protests which turn violent have the name of Baba Ramdev associated with them somehow.

Also, I think that these "candlelight marches" are becoming more of a fad instead of people understanding their real essence. I recently attended one such protest organized by a RWA, and was disheartened to see that the people around me were more interested in getting their pictures clicked and holding the best looking banner / placard. Slowly, the protest turned anti-Congress and was lambasting Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh. Now, I am not a Congress supporter, but I think that making insinuations against 2 people is outrageous when we know that it's the society at large which needs to change.

Maybe we need to think this over...