If
Winter comes, can spring be far behind?
The last two weeks have been a traumatic period for every
self respecting and thinking Indian as s/he recalls the exemplary courage of “Nirbhaya’,
the 23 year old young woman countering a brutal savage assault on her human
dignity as a woman. In her we recognize a rare mixture of wisdom, strength,
courage and fearlessness that have made her a venerable household name in the
country. Her death signing off 2012 marks the rising of a resurgent India in
2013, dedicating itself to the safety, security and rightful place for women in
our society. The New Year Eve was truly
a celebration of the strength of EVE, the progenitor of the human race.
The rape incident followed by corporeal brutality inflicted
on the young woman has galvanized the entire nation into a unanimous cry for
honour and justice to all women who had been undone by masculine venereal lust
for the female body. The spontaneous protests and outrage against the perpetrators
of this reprehensible crime took the government by surprise. How did this
happen? The viral transmission of the outrage over what had happened brought
thousands of young men and women on the social media platform to work out
strategies to express their anguish and anger. The power of the twitter
revolution is infinitely stronger than all other forms of revolution including
the electronic and the print media and the government was caught unawares at
the surge of raw emotions evidenced in the capital. The speedy arrest of the criminals and the
promise by the government to fast track the rape case hardly made a dent among
the twitter revolutionaries. The rising of the educated middle class in unison
revealed that its power was stronger than that of people in power. This is the
new age digital revolution that started with Tahir square inbEgypt and spread like wild
fire to Libya and Syria against dictatorial oligarchs. It has the power to
harness thousands of people to merge on a single platform to voice forth their dissent,
discontent and disillusionment. India also has had its share of Tahir square revolution
with Anna Hazare’s movement for Jan Lokpal, but what was witnessed during this
one fortnight was a spontaneous upsurge of the youth’s angst over the brutality
meted out to a young brave woman.
Even though the Government set up J.S.Verma Commission to
recommend the much needed amendment to the existing laws on sexual assaults and
a task force to review safety of women besides assurances to expedite rape
cases and ensuring safe travel by public transport, the protesters are not
letting down their vigil –an eerie sign of distrust of the government in power.
The present agitation is apolitical but has contours of repudiation of
democratic process in its urgency to press for its own agenda that is often
mired in strong emotions to the exclusion of reason and understanding. The twitter revolution spreads fast like wild
fire specially if there is police bashing and government bashing. The tweets -unlike
the blogs- with their 140 character limitation can hurl charges without
assigning any logic or explanation. It is a sad but true fact that humans
relish listening to negative comments and twitter is the surest means of spreading
rumours and even false charges. While the present twitter revolution has been
for a positive cause, one dreads to imagine the fall-out of negative twitters
as in the case of recent rumours that fuelled exodus of Northeastern people
from our cities. Twitter is one-sided bashing and the bashed has no time to offer
his/her version in defence. In the recent agitation the police high handedness
has come in for severe criticism and there was no one to listen to any
explanation from the law enforcing authority. Microblogging has thus its
advantages to build instant solidarity among many thousands but unless there is
self regulation and a determined effort not to sensationalize and instigate
people, it will result in the collapse of rule of law.
Twitters have come to stay. Even blogs are slowly on the
wane as the Yolo (You only live once) generation has no time to read, analyze
and sift the chaff from the grain. We need sane responses against scurrilous and
libelous twitters that may provoke people to insane anger and despair. Twitter
is a powerful tool to build community; it can also be a powerful tool to
destroy community. It has the power to absorb us; it has the power to destroy
us. Who is to guide the twitters who have in their hands a double-edged
sword?
We have witnessed the
emergence of the new generation of educated young men and women. The death of
Nirbhaya has given birth to an unprecedented rise of youth power in the right
direction. But the anxiety lingers about the potential abuse of this power Instead
of damning twitter messages- which is an infringement on the democratic right
of the citizen- the government should identify young leaders, administrative
officers, apolitical intellectuals, educationists, sociologists and
psychologists who can connect with the youth and engage them to enter into a
twitter dialogue with them and win back the lost trust of the young twitteratis.
The social media unlike the print and electronic media does allow peer
interaction. It is difficult for anyone beyond the charmed circle of the print
and electronic media to get his/ her word heard or printed. Hence the only recourse available toordinary citizens is to twitter for social networking with all its plusses and minuses. What cannot be
wished away has to be nurtured and strengthened.
It has been a traumatic Delhi winter. But as the saying goes
can Delhi spring be far behind?
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