How the right to walk is integral to modernity
The article discusses a recent Indian Supreme Court ruling that recognizes the 'Right to Walk' on footpaths as a fundamental right. It critiques the prioritization of vehicular traffic over pedestrian safety and the socio-economic biases against those who walk.
Why it matters
It highlights the tension between urban development, capitalist infrastructure, and the basic human right to mobility in public spaces.
That we would need a court of law to remind us that the Right to Walk should be a fundamental right at this moment in history when activists are trying to stop government-corporations from restricting the natural flow of rivers cannot be just a coincidence. The Right to Walk on footpaths, to be specific. There is a restriction on the freedom of nearly all parts of the human body imposed by the state — the hands cannot touch whatever they want to, one can’t spit or defecate wherever one might want to, one cannot rest one’s back against every available wall, and our legs are prevented from taking us to anywhere the mind wants to.
The article frames the issue through a lens of social justice and critiques 'capitalist energy' and corporate influence.
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