A case of popu pressure
Revolution, even a hint of it, is traditionally uncomfortable with democracies of any kind. In India, it is considered even more of an anachronism given the legendary tolerance elasticity of its population.
But, the mass anger and media activism post Mumbai, came in as somewhat of a surprise, evoking a mixed reaction from India’s myriad opinionists. Some greeted it as a knee-jerk reaction which would die down at the next turning. Some welcomed it as a long-awaited more. Others turned up their proprietal nose at the “audacity of the elite pretending to be public activists.”
Come to think of it, the peace rallies at the Gateway in Mumbai, the uncalled for calls to stop paying taxes, the candle-lighting, the slogan-shouting, the poster-waving, the politician-abusing — everything amounted to a guilty build-up against a rotten system. Guilty because it was none other than we-the-people who had put it in place by years of reconciliation, turning a blind eye and even becoming part of the chain of crippling corruption.
After all, weren’t all Governments, be it the BJP or the Congress, not being weaklings in their own typical ways? The public did not rise against the Government mishandling the IC-814 hijack case.
It did not particularly care that city after city got blasted to bigger and bigger terror designs. It did not care to seriously ask why Afzal Guru was not hanged. It did not lament India’s position on the world corruption index. It braved inflation. It swam over the petrol price surge. It lived with crime. It spared repeated miscarriage of justice and it hardly ever got into the act against school fee, nursery interviews, child abuse and other ills fattening all around it.
So what was it that gave it the gumption to graduate from being the eternal victim to becoming a force to reckon with? To a large extent, it was the stunning 60-hour live coverage of Mumbai attack galvanising it into shocked reaction. The trigger to rise up against any and everything was as potent as RDX and hence the explosion almost felled the inept political class.
One can, however, say that if potency was a plus point, staying power could be the casualty. Yes, we have arisen from the depths of coma but it is yet to be seen how long-lasting our outrage will be. Will we continue to be a force that will keep the Government on its toes where terror is concerned? Do we really have the acumen to seriously question hogwash decisions meant more to pacify popular anger than to achieve anything more realistic?
Not yet, but a beginning has been made. From here on, citizen activism needs to turn into an organised sector, drawing strength from professional outfits to first identify the correct points of pressure and then prioritise issues and perhaps even delegate their espousal systematically.
It is a known fact that public outpourings of the kind that altered the DNA of 2008 often stem from extreme forms of anger, violence, frustration and rejection. They happen when shock overpowers life, when resentment graduates into uncontrollable anger. And they ebb with time, even in the face of inaction.
It happened when the Kargil coffins started coming down the Tiger Hill. The public was perceived to have arisen then, especially the young public known to prefer iPods over social battles. But then patriotism as an emotion is almost always circumstantial and can very rarely translate into a long-lasting people’s movement.
As the embers from the Taj dome turn into dead ash, as the Oberoi goes back into business, as the Nariman House gets refurbished and as the CST returns to a being a rush-house, one can only pray that the sentiments that were attached to the martyrdom of our Mumbai heroes does not get buried in daily life. A pragmatist would say, this is bound to happen in the rough and tumble of life that is India.
But an optimist will know that even if the post-Mumbai outpouring ebbs, it will never be completely wiped out. It will come, as and when the situation demands. One hopes the situation never demands.
But, the mass anger and media activism post Mumbai, came in as somewhat of a surprise, evoking a mixed reaction from India’s myriad opinionists. Some greeted it as a knee-jerk reaction which would die down at the next turning. Some welcomed it as a long-awaited more. Others turned up their proprietal nose at the “audacity of the elite pretending to be public activists.”
Come to think of it, the peace rallies at the Gateway in Mumbai, the uncalled for calls to stop paying taxes, the candle-lighting, the slogan-shouting, the poster-waving, the politician-abusing — everything amounted to a guilty build-up against a rotten system. Guilty because it was none other than we-the-people who had put it in place by years of reconciliation, turning a blind eye and even becoming part of the chain of crippling corruption.
After all, weren’t all Governments, be it the BJP or the Congress, not being weaklings in their own typical ways? The public did not rise against the Government mishandling the IC-814 hijack case.
It did not particularly care that city after city got blasted to bigger and bigger terror designs. It did not care to seriously ask why Afzal Guru was not hanged. It did not lament India’s position on the world corruption index. It braved inflation. It swam over the petrol price surge. It lived with crime. It spared repeated miscarriage of justice and it hardly ever got into the act against school fee, nursery interviews, child abuse and other ills fattening all around it.
So what was it that gave it the gumption to graduate from being the eternal victim to becoming a force to reckon with? To a large extent, it was the stunning 60-hour live coverage of Mumbai attack galvanising it into shocked reaction. The trigger to rise up against any and everything was as potent as RDX and hence the explosion almost felled the inept political class.
One can, however, say that if potency was a plus point, staying power could be the casualty. Yes, we have arisen from the depths of coma but it is yet to be seen how long-lasting our outrage will be. Will we continue to be a force that will keep the Government on its toes where terror is concerned? Do we really have the acumen to seriously question hogwash decisions meant more to pacify popular anger than to achieve anything more realistic?
Not yet, but a beginning has been made. From here on, citizen activism needs to turn into an organised sector, drawing strength from professional outfits to first identify the correct points of pressure and then prioritise issues and perhaps even delegate their espousal systematically.
It is a known fact that public outpourings of the kind that altered the DNA of 2008 often stem from extreme forms of anger, violence, frustration and rejection. They happen when shock overpowers life, when resentment graduates into uncontrollable anger. And they ebb with time, even in the face of inaction.
It happened when the Kargil coffins started coming down the Tiger Hill. The public was perceived to have arisen then, especially the young public known to prefer iPods over social battles. But then patriotism as an emotion is almost always circumstantial and can very rarely translate into a long-lasting people’s movement.
As the embers from the Taj dome turn into dead ash, as the Oberoi goes back into business, as the Nariman House gets refurbished and as the CST returns to a being a rush-house, one can only pray that the sentiments that were attached to the martyrdom of our Mumbai heroes does not get buried in daily life. A pragmatist would say, this is bound to happen in the rough and tumble of life that is India.
But an optimist will know that even if the post-Mumbai outpouring ebbs, it will never be completely wiped out. It will come, as and when the situation demands. One hopes the situation never demands.
Published on December 28, 2008 in Sunday Pioneer, http://www.dailypioneer.com/146425/A-case-of-popu-pressure.html
Comments
Post a Comment