Swami Nigamanand is dead. The 36-year-old swami died in Haridwar after fasting for 114 days to protest illegal mining along the Ganga. Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh said in New Delhi a day later that the matter was the Uttarakhand government’s responsibility. The BJP-ruled state government will surely pass off something equally unpalatable for an explanation or blame the centre in return. Meanwhile, the swami’s associates have alleged that Nigamanand died of poisoning at the district hospital and the state government has ordered a probe.

It seems the remains of the mortal news will stay alive for a while.

Alter a few facts and we could well be discussing Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev. Or, for that matter, anybody else who opposes entrenched interests with little more than the moral force of a common citizen and the logistical support of a few followers.

It is perhaps natural, and indeed tempting, to look for contrasts in such cases.  That explains the spate of stories on the apolitical platform of Anna Hazare’s agitation, the political colour of Baba Ramdev’s protest and the all-round apathy over Swami Nigamanand’s fast.

What concerns us as citizens, however, is the essential similarity in the response of the powers that be to all such protests. If our political and administrative system cannot get away by ignoring a voice that rises in protest, it will seek to either suppress that voice or lull that voice into believing that the demands are perpetually in the process of being met. Swami Nigamanand was ignored, Baba Ramdev was sought to be suppressed and Anna Hazare is being led up the legislative garden path.

Even as the media remains riveted on the tale of the two babas, as a sequel to the tale of the apolitical Anna versus the political baba, it cannot be too long before the average citizen grasps the violent resistance of those in charge to any systemic reform. Why else would the government, whether at the centre or in the states, seek to ignore or discredit everybody who demands better governance? The next time you hear questions being raised over the credentials of a protester, just ask one simple question in return: who stands to benefit the most if this protest is quelled? You will be surprised how often those opposing the protest themselves figure in the answer.

Swami Nigamanand may not have died in the manner he did if he had a larger following or a more political backing; he would have been just beaten up like Baba Ramdev and his followers or thwarted in other ways like Anna Hazare and his team. Hopefully, all such protests will add up somewhere and one of these days one such protester might just gather the critical mass required to change the system. Swami Nigamanand, then, will not have died in vain.