Why India is lagging behind OWS like movement ?
While ,whole world is facing Occupy Wall Street like protest against defective banking system and corporate greed,but why India is lagging behind ,because Indians are busy with corporate events like F1 race and Metallica music concert,even though Communist Party of India announced that it will start India version of OWS protest called "Dalal Street protest " from November 4th 2011. In the month of August 2011, India faced huge demonstration at Ram leela grounds,when Sri Anna Hazare ,who calls himself Gandhi follower, went on fast for about 12 days in the month of August 2011 for strong legislation called"Jan Lok Pal Bill" to tackle the scourge of corruption.It is matter of debate,how effectively Anna and team spread intense anti-corruption under banner called "India Against Corruption" using social media Face Book , twitter and SMS with in short period of time,which lead to overwhelming response among the middle class and lower middle class.The most experts believed that it is urban middle class revolution and outright revolt against the rampant corruption,which is prevalent in every wing /department of the government.But even,after two months of Anna fast and huge Ramleela demonstrations,promised Legislation remained a distinct reality,once again Anna threatening to go on fast,if government of India does not pass strong legislation cub the corruption.
Team Anna Problems and degrading anti-corruption movement :
Paradoxically ,the team Anna members like Ms Kiran Bedi and Mr.Kejriwal faces many allegations of misuse of funds ,abuse of power and wrong doing ,who are managing NGO's.
Another interesting development is "India against Corruption" [IAC ]decided to return the money collected at Ramleela grounds ,to come clean in the eyes of the public.
The issue is not about the individuals of Team Anna and their wrong doing ,the issue of importance is Government of India commitment to fight corruption,most experts are of view that by leveling such allegations ,the government of India 's intention is to sidetrack the issue of strong legislation.
The team Anna unitedly said,they are ready to face any thorough probe,but don't side tract the issue of Jan Lok Pal legislation,at any cost,the bill should be tabled in next Parliament session.
The issue is not about the individuals of Team Anna and their wrong doing ,the issue of importance is Government of India commitment to fight corruption,most experts are of view that by leveling such allegations ,the government of India 's intention is to sidetrack the issue of strong legislation.
The team Anna unitedly said,they are ready to face any thorough probe,but don't side tract the issue of Jan Lok Pal legislation,at any cost,the bill should be tabled in next Parliament session.
Give up attitude:
Some times, we all get nagging doubt that whether Indians suffer from the give -up mentality or poor fighting spirit or poor sportive mindset?,we often come to wrong conclusion that corruption in India is reality,bear it ,rather than fight it,things will not change overnight,we have to lead our life ,irrespective of prevailing circumstances in the country ,rather than fight the system,face the system,which we cant change it single-highhandedly.This is the attitude of the educated middle class Indians.
The sleeping corporate media:
It is matter of irony the press/media is regarded as fourth estate of the democracy,the media is not playing constructive role to cleanse the rotten system,because mainstream media is owned by corporates ,who are political bosses,either they are opposed or supports the ruling establishment for political reasons,rather than playing role of neutral observer.Our media is more interested promoting F1 race or Metallica concert ,while western media[whatever their motive is ] is criticizing India for hosting F1 race,while the nation faces poverty and unemployment.
Education in the hands of market forces:
The youth are not mentally trained the fight the rotten system,because of our market orientated education,when our education system is in the hands of corporates,it will invariably trained people with skills to face the system ,not to fight the system.The spirit of revolution and spirit of fighting injustice is not in-calculated in the minds of youth.We are trained to face the system and continue our duties as a passive citizen,ignoring the hardship of the rotten system.
Some times, we all get nagging doubt that whether Indians suffer from the give -up mentality or poor fighting spirit or poor sportive mindset?,we often come to wrong conclusion that corruption in India is reality,bear it ,rather than fight it,things will not change overnight,we have to lead our life ,irrespective of prevailing circumstances in the country ,rather than fight the system,face the system,which we cant change it single-highhandedly.This is the attitude of the educated middle class Indians.
The sleeping corporate media:
It is matter of irony the press/media is regarded as fourth estate of the democracy,the media is not playing constructive role to cleanse the rotten system,because mainstream media is owned by corporates ,who are political bosses,either they are opposed or supports the ruling establishment for political reasons,rather than playing role of neutral observer.Our media is more interested promoting F1 race or Metallica concert ,while western media[whatever their motive is ] is criticizing India for hosting F1 race,while the nation faces poverty and unemployment.
Education in the hands of market forces:
The youth are not mentally trained the fight the rotten system,because of our market orientated education,when our education system is in the hands of corporates,it will invariably trained people with skills to face the system ,not to fight the system.The spirit of revolution and spirit of fighting injustice is not in-calculated in the minds of youth.We are trained to face the system and continue our duties as a passive citizen,ignoring the hardship of the rotten system.
When Telangana region of A.P ,India went on general strike for a more than a month demanding separate statehood with in-the constitution,some people[may be encouraged by state forces],on their own accord ,formed into a union called parents association or anxious parent's s group and demanded that the government should take steps to see that educational institutes should not suffer due to frequent strikes,ironically there was no such parental association meeting or association formed ,when corporate schools and colleges were grabbing huge donations and no such protest was witnessed,when private educational institutes cheated the innocent students ,which were functioning with out any approval or permits.No such protest were witnessed for effective implementation of Right to Education.No one[ so-called concerned citizens] ,raises the issue of high suicide rates in students[bright students of IIT/IIM] and the youth.
We are only trained to adopt and face the system ,rather fight the system,that is why are lagging behind OWS like protest ,people are not mentally strong in enough to face the difficulties in fighting the rotten system.During ancient and medieval times,the young prince/princess used to get education on bravery,Valor-ism,war-fare and military adventure,even people were trained to defend them selves from the enemy attacks ,ironically,present educational system teaches us to be passive spectator to the rotten system and become a victim of market forces,it is fact that market is dictating our lives ,right from the cloths to education,even our personal life is dictated by the market forces.There is no scope for original thinking and original life style basing on our own thinking ,choices and tastes.
"The man is born free ,but every where ,he is in chains"how true and relevant,even though it is the an ancient philosophy.Presently,we are trapped in the chains of corporate world,who are not interested in changing the rotten system.
The democracy in India has become "of the corporate","for the corporate" ,"by the corporate"
But we should remember that ,there will not be any change with out any element of hardship and risk.The change comes for certain prize.
3 comments:
The causes listed for lagging behind can be agreed.Interesting write-up.
Well done - this is a complex issue, and you have covered all the different facets of it very well.
The bottomline in both the OWS movement and the civil society protests here is that for such a movement to succeed, the motivation has to be strong enough where people will come forward and take active part in public life. Public life does not end with protest. It implies taking responsibility and venturing into governance, whether it of the state or the corporation, or setting up feasible means of regulating financial processes.
At the root of it are two traits of all living organisms which we need to fight, and both are linked inextricably to the pleasure principle. No organism wants to "do" any thing more than it must in order to survive, and no organism wants to face discomfort. As a result, greed and laziness are ingrained into our nature, and perhaps even legitimized.
The systemic rot is widespread and the lack of redress mechanisms makes it worse. Even if you choose to stand up for a transparent system, you will be hounded just like the Anna team has been or like Sanjeev Bhatt, the cop who spoke out against police and government inaction during the gujarat riots.
It would be interesting to look at the lifestyles and behaviors of many of the people who are supporting the anti corruption movement, and I personally know many who are. It would be difficult to find large numbers of people whose behaviors are in sync with their public position regarding corruption, dishonesty, etc.
The activism on the streets has to be matched by a similar display of values in our personal lives, and only then can we step forward to take responsibility for governance change. The same applies to all such movements, including the OWS movement.
There is need for a concerted approach from all fronts, on our personal lives, as parents, as workers, and as citizens. There is need to organize and delegate appropriate functions to suitably qualified people. Do we need to wait till it hurts some more for such a future to become real? At the cost of sounding pessimistic, I would think so.
@Christy Thanks @Subhorup Dasgupta I agree with you,you made valid points ,which I could not cover.
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