2011... Of Protests and Protesters!

As we come to the end of another year, we generally tend to look back at all that stood out, all that was special. Well, what really was the highlight of a tumultuous 2011 were those protests and the protestors of all kind….the good, the bad and some, really ugly!

Even the ‘Time’ selected ‘the Protestor’ as the ‘Person of the Year’. (Read more at http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102132_2102373-1,00.html

While the focus of Time was on the global protest scenario starting from Egypt to Wall Street, I would stick to what was going on in our backyard.

Think of the changing tides backed by fasts and protests and the name that immediately strikes our minds is that of Annaji – the angry old man and his gang of “Angry Birds” protesting for a 'STRONG' Lokpal (strong means ''whatever they demand'). As I write this, their third protest for the year is on at Mumbai. Since I have already commented on this in my previous posts, I restrain from getting further into that. My views on this issue continue to remain the same. He has made an huge impact and there is action and debate. Beyond that “One cannot hold the country for ransom”.
There has been progress in terms of the bill in the parliament after 60+ years and the elected representatives are debating on that. The least step would have been to protest post the debate in parliament. The breaking news in television channels while I was scribbling my thoughts late last night was ‘Rajnikant supports Annaji and offers his marriage hall in Chennai for team Anna’. Now here is a man with a larger than life image, who had the golden chance of making big in politics. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the courage or conviction to take that bait. How I wish he had taken up that responsibility and brought about some change rather than indulging in these bystander activities.

Out of all this, how can I miss commenting on the ‘Opposition’! The new-age definition of opposition is ‘the one who opposes everything the ruling party proposes’. Looks like the BJP failed to recall that they were in power for a long period and while they did introduce the bill twice, they could not pass the so called ‘strong’ Lokpal. The Left and their dead ideology (thankfully – they are not in power anywhere now) wanted the moon. The same Left front supported a Congress Government for a long time and they were in selective amnesia about corruption at that time.

Coming to the local protests, the first issue that flashes immediately is that of the nuclear plant located a Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu. A plant where a whopping Rs.14000 crores was spent, is at a limbo due to protests by locals fearing nuclear disaster. Let us go a few steps back and recall that the plant was conceived in 1981 and the work commenced in 1997. This means that 2011 is definitely not the time when you stall a project of this magnitude; there were various stages in which it could have been stalled. Jayalalitha, who is otherwise considered a progressive politician, is also surprisingly playing a spoil sport. We have, at one side, issues linked to rising power tariff and power cuts and on the other, when there is an effort to salvage the power situation through nuclear power – there is nothing but PROTEST.

The second most-talked about (read: protested) issue at hand is the Mullaperiyar dam crisis, an inter-state dispute on for a long time. Well, how it came to the forefront all of a sudden is still a mystery to me! What is rather worrying is the sudden politicization of the dispute resulting in bandhs, burning/ destroying of shops of the Mallu / Tamil community. The issue is quite complex (read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullaperiyar_Dam)

And here’s to an ultimate paradox! ‘FDI in retail’ - an issue in which the consumer or common man was ignored in the process of protecting the interests of traders. The opposition sent the Government into a tizzy with their protests and backlash. Did the BJP go into “Ghajini-mode” and forget that FDI in retail was part of their 2004 election manifesto. And of course, the TMC and Mamata – Congress, am sure, is still not certain whether the TMC is an ally or an opposition. At least, these politicians could have debated before stalling it.

I am in no way protesting that there should not be protests. But if we take a look at year 2011, things were at a complete standstill and no progress whatsoever was made. Protests, fasts and a lot more… but an underlying, mute question always remains – Who is this protestor? Who is the instigator? What is he protesting for? Why is he protesting? To sum it up and quote from the current rage.............. why this kolaveri!

As those who wish to protest are still going strong, I choose to rest my case.....................