Prathibha Mahanamaheva, a former Professor at the Jamaica University of Technology, said that even in the most democratic countries of the world, there are rules for protesting and demonstrations and the Police have used tear gas and other methods to stop them when such protests are held in defiance of these rules.
He said that separate places have been reserved for demonstrations in those countries and demonstrations cannot be held outside those designated areas.
Mahanamaheva also mentioned that he had personally seen a group of LTTE sympathizers protesting near the Geneva Human Rights Commission being chased away when they crossed the boundaries.
He said that protests and demonstrations are a human right but should be done with a proper understanding of its limits. He said that although there is a right to protest, it is not possible to interfere with the freedom of the common man and behave riotously and added that and blaming the Government for strict action was not fair as there is no room for arbitrarily protesting anywhere in the world.