A wave of social (media) change
Has social media become a platform to discuss politics? Social media has gained prominence in the daily lives of people and now, social issues are mostly discussed on the various social media platforms. People are being mobilised to organise campaigns against numerous injustices being reported in the country, be it a price hike, corruption, sexual harassment and more. These are being increasingly taken up by ordinary mortals and require no real leadership.
A few years ago in Delhi, a girl was abducted along with her boyfriend on a bus, and was brutally raped. It would have been treated like just another low-profile crime story and pushed under the carpet, had it not been for the power of the people, who called for a mass protest seeking justice for the victim.
Within a short notice, thousands of youngsters gathered at important landmarks within the city of New Delhi, like at India Gate, Jantar Mantar and Janpath to show their outrage. Soon the government deployed the police at these locations to curb the protesters. But the incident got the attention of mainstream media, including those from abroad and it brought much shame to the country.
The politicians and political parties suddenly found themselves irrelevant in the face of such a mass participation. It came out as a spontaneous response towards a brutal injustice. The protests of nurses in Kerala about the recent rape story also triggered a similar response. Since then many campaigns have been organised by ordinary people without the support of political parties.
The most recent flooding in Kerala saw social media groups volunteering and coming to the rescue of those stranded. Several youths had mobilised relief missions and distributed goods to those displaced. Today victims have no inhibition to come forward and speak up. Even mainstream media has come to depend on social media for news. In fact social media has given a strong voice to women world over, especially in countries like India.
■ The reader is a resident of Dubai.