20th March 2013
Learning Lessons!
Many spectators especially from
Tamil Nadu term the students’ protest as the reawakening of the 1960’s anti
Hindi spirit, while some others compare it to the JP movement of the 70’s. What
it really is a spontaneous reaction of a bunch of students who were motivated
by some political thinking. Let us not mistake this to be a political party but
it is political thinking. That means any one who wants change a system that is
perceived to be unjust is thinking politically. The process of politicization
happens when the eyes and ears along with other senses are open and a sense of
dissatisfaction is sustained over a period of time. The simmering of this
feeling has led to the precipitation of events. It was almost like the student
community was waiting for a chance to protest.
In the past twenty years or so there
have not been too many protests at this scale in Tamil Nadu and especially by
the students. In the urban areas they
were considered to be mall going, entertainment loving, time wasting types or
on the other hand belonging to some nerdy group that was interested in techy
stuff, or others still belonging to the don’t care attitude groups. There are
also others who belong to the “I cant afford that”. This is an interesting
group that is deprived and disadvantaged and does not hesitate to lay its life
for a cause.
There is reason to believe that
the protests sparked off a sense of purpose in the minds of the youth. With or
without understanding, knowingly or unknowingly but most willingly the students
have stepped out of their classes and forced the state to declare an academic
holiday.
There are several things that we
can learn from this.
1. Even
if the world has forgotten the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka, the students have
reminded them that it is very much alive in the hearts, minds and in body.
2. It
is a reminder that the students can’t be taken for granted. This means that
they re ready to come out in the open and take a stand for issues of social
justice even if it is not happening in India
3. For
students there is no need for any inspirational leader to organize them. They
are capable of organizing themselves.
4. Though
many political parties motivate the students and draw inspiration the students
have still not pledged any allegiance to any party.
5. Despite
the presence or absence of distractions of IPL, Movies and TV the students have
found ways to sustain themselves for a cause
6. They have not had coordinated protests but
independent flash strikes, fasts and so on.
7. We
should never forget that this is a twitter generation and they have made use of
the social network sites to its best. Along with this they have also known ways
and means to attract the news hungry media.
8. Let
us not feel that they are on the street just because the government is letting
them to be there. Even if there is a lot of pressure on the students from the
government they will find ways to continue their protest.
The causes and consequences of such students’
actions can be subjected to a postmortem at a later stage. What is most important
is that they have made the world look at them in a different light. It looks
like they have shaken off their Teflon coating of indifference to prove a point
that they are still awake and will keep us awake when it is necessary.
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