My grandfather taught me that when you are in a river, the hippo is more dangerous if it goes under the water than when it sticks its head out. If its head is out of the water, we are able to see it and adjust. Once it goes out of sight under the water, we do not know what it is up to and can do to us. It is the same with democracies: the citizens are more dangerous to those in power when they keep quiet (even when they have something to say) for fear of reprisals than they are when they are allowed to freely speak out or vent. 

Since those in power are stifling dissent and arresting critics; since they and their supporters don’t like it when we speak out, perhaps we should henceforth go silent and work quietly, underground. Let those in power and their supporters continue speaking freely. Let their voices be amplified on all platforms, on any subject and at any time, since nothing can happen to them. Like echo chambers, let them talk, even if it means talking only to themselves. 

Let them laugh at ‘the other’, call them names, and condemn anything and everything about those who do not share their opinions, who have different views about how the country is being governed, who dare to criticise the actions or policies of our elected public leaders. They can even criticise and condemn us for our new strategy of silence. Let them. Let them. Let them.