The politics of protest
I had a friend who often spoke of politics and of protest. One could
call him a 'political activist' for he ventured to publish a monthly
journal on politics and dissent and from time to time helped groups of
people and individuals who could not help themselves achieve 'common
good' social objectives. Such were done by him through mobilising
financial help from likeminded others for he did not have the means to
carry them out himself.
With the oil price hikes and the resultant fall-out 'protests' taken
on by political parties and other interest groups, I took on to
examining what this phenomenon meant at its very basic level. Herein, I
recall some of the anecdotes associated with my friend dating a decade
or so ago.
Defining politics
One day, I asked him what he meant by 'politics' if it was not the
usually defined "art or science of running governmental or state affairs
or as it applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups
such as the corporate, academic, and religious segments of society or
social relations involving authority or power".
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Mahatma
Gandhi |
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Nelson
Mandela |
His position was that all of this defining did not deal with the
day-to-day realities of the need for justice and fair play or the
protection of the powerless and the vulnerable within a society. For him
and till this day for me, the term 'politics' brings a deeper and a more
personal meaning, different to what I was made to believe through the
Laskian tradition. It is more on empowerment of people in distress and
in providing opportunities for the marginalized to be partners in the
process of development, while protecting them from the forces of
injustice, waste and corruption.
He explained that a task he undertook in helping a fatherless child
regain the ownership of a property left for her by her late father was
'politics'. A tenant who occupied that property had fraudulently
attempted to gain its ownership through a crooked lady lawyer who had
helped him design a false-deed for the property. The child and her
mother did not have the means to seek resolve though the judicial
process and the tenant and the lawyer both knew this. My friend, having
learnt of this situation simply printed and pasted a few posters around
the lawyer's residence warning that this fraud would be exposed. There
were no names mentioned or specific references made. It resulted in a
happy ending to the episode with the tenant dropping his claim of the
property at the insistence of the lawyer.
You there
On another occasion, he together with a few likeminded friends
supported a group of villagers living close to a face of a granite rock
used for quarry mining. Blasting of this rock for boulders, using
dynamite was causing immense hardship to the villagers. He used his
influence with the television media to expose this situation and saw to
it that the license given earlier for the activity was reexamined and
revoked by the relevant authorities. This was done with much hardship
working against attempts of a few powerful people associated with
party-based politics, who were bent on maintaining status-quo.
On yet another occasion he told me of how he was able to mobilize a
group of otherwise docile passengers to rise against a drunkard bully in
a crowded bus, attempting to hurt an innocent passenger. In an instance
and on a call of 'Ado' (loud call of 'you there') all the passengers who
till then were passive observers watching the bullying had risen to
assist to protect the innocent man. My friend equated his spontaneous
call of 'Ado' as an instance of 'politics of protest' in action.
Common good
The dictionary definition of protest is "the expression or
declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, often in opposition
to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid". Within the
framework of democratic governance, protest is a sacrosanct right of a
citizen when it is done within the bounds of that allowed by the law of
that land. It must also have a morally rightful stance in the
declaration of the said objection i.e. only being motivated by the need
and will to make things better for the common good, without allowing
gains that are personal or of an interest group. In essence, it must not
have any other petty agenda forming the basis for such protest.
Satyagraha or 'truth force' is defined in the Wikipedia as a
particular philosophy and practice within the broader overall category
generally known as nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. The term
was conceived and developed by Mahatma Gandhi and was deployed in the
Indian Independence movement and as well as during his earlier struggles
in South Africa. Satyagraha theory influenced Nelson Mandela's struggle
in South Africa under apartheid and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaigns
during the civil rights movement in the United States.
Most recently we saw similar movements take on issues of corruption
in governance and in corporate affairs such as the Anna Hazare campaign
in India for enacting the Jan Lokpal (People's governance on
anti-corruption) bill and the Occupy movement in the USA. Both used
peaceful means of agitation drawn from the Gandhian tradition and gained
much momentum.
Power of One
Interestingly the protagonists of both these campaigns have
attributed its widespread success to the power of info-communications
and the intense and widespread reach the social networks have in the
current context of its development. With the Internet based social
networks political issues gain momentum of proportions never before
seen. The concept of 'power of one' in political protest is now a
reality and need be recognized for its potency and productive
mobilization.
Protests are often masterminded or orchestrated by external forces
that are only interested in gaining access to resources within countries
through creation of disharmony and mayhem. These are often presented and
justified laying them on platforms of 'protecting human rights or
democracy' when the real intent is to destabilize nations and their
economies. The 'Arab Spring' conflicts and last week's, bloody protests
in Afghanistan when Islam's Holy Book was reportedly burnt in a most
insensitive manner by a group of foreign solders stationed there, are
demonstrative of the causes and effects of such schemes.
It is sad that we once again live in an era of human existence where
waging war and cultivating separatism and dissent have become lucrative
business propositions, just like it was during the phase of colonialism
we were subjected to during the last few centuries.
Positive protest
In the alternative, I wonder why our protests should not take a more
positive note and become part of the routine of our daily life, like my
late friend had demonstrated. Here are some examples of the
possibilities therein, as he would have prescribed.
To refrain from ever giving or taking bribes or using undue influence
to get things done (e.g. those tenders, jobs, entering your child to
school, a patient to a hospital or sharing of insider information for
making undue gains in the corporate world). Such often deprive the
deserving from getting their due, even within systems where meritocracy
once reigned. In each instance, when this is violated by another, we
must be able to raise our voices, take action and protest vehemently
through all peaceful means available to us.
Wherever and whenever a corrupt or an anti-social practise such as
that of drug dealers, unethical medical practitioners, corrupt
politicians, heads of schools and the like is observed raising your
voice against it, regardless of how powerful those behind such practises
may seemingly be, is another way to ensure that meaningful 'protest' is
made.
When there is hardship felt during price hikes and shortages of
goods, why not initiate and take on austere practices such as community
'car pooling' to save on fuel, make citizen's calls on the political
leaders to cut back on their show-offish and wasteful use of resources
including fuel guzzler clusters of vehicles and security personnel.
Sharing whatever one has in excess with others less fortunate, helping
those in need with opportunities to regain their lives, providing
educational support sharing your knowledge and skills without expecting
pecuniary benefits for it will be another. Venturing to help the
marginalised and the vulnerable living in the community around you in
even in the smallest possible way are some great ways to register our
'political protest' against the wrong we see and agitate about. We must
not underestimate the 'Power of One' in 'political protest' and the
phenomenon's potency as a tool to even get those who haul party lines,
other cronies and interest groups to change their selfish and
self-seeking ways.
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