I had the opportunity of viewing parts of an interview with Preity Zinta telecast on Headlines Today, earlier this morning. The actress talked with fervour about how in her opinion, every family should get at least one son/ daughter to join armed forces and other things , prior to the commencement of the candle-march. I am not sure about the origin of candle-marches as a mass response to undesirable occurences but to believe one among my class-mates, the movie Rang De Basanti inspired the new trend of these candle-marches. As I was watching the clip of candle-march held after the dastardly attacks on Mumbai, someone remarked how these marches created a security hazard more than anything else.
This post was not intended to be entirely devoted to the utility of candle-marches but at the risk of contradicting myself I shoudl pose the question- what purpose do these marches serve? Call me a consequentialist if you may but in my opinion the utility of these marches is if not nothing, very close to nothing. The media get an event to cover, participants get an opportunity to perhaps exhibit placards but does this lead to any change, any effect on people who should perhaps be thrown out of their cosy chairs? The answer clearly is no. Assuming No, to the be the answer a pertinent enquiry shoudl perhaps be directed at exploring alternate means of tackling such situations, means through which we (the people) can achieve something for our own good and for the good of future generations that will take birth in our country.
The same middle class that exhibits unmatched enthusiasm when it comes to participation in events such as Marathons (another trend), candle-marches etc. shies away from exercising its franchise, from accosting officials, from garnering money and support for people who lay down their lives for the country and are not even spoken about- electronic media flashed news items devoted to the sacrifice of three IPS officers and Major Unni, but another martyr Havaldar Gajendra Singh was conveniently forgotten perhaps because he was not a Commissioned Officer unlike Major Unni. I mean no dis-prespect at all to Major Unni or the three IPS officers but what I do intend to highlight is the apathy with which the media and the middle class treats the sacrifices of constables (police and para-millitary forces) and non-commissioned officers.
In a democracy such as India, in order for an issue to assume importance (int he eyes of those who have been conferred the power to do something in that regard) what matters is being noticeable as a vote-bank. If the same avid supporters of candle-marches were to organise themselves and accost officials, politicians and such other 'public servants' (and make this a continual affair) perhaps the impact would be much more and qualitatively better.
I have been enrolled on a seminar course dealing with the unknown aspects of the Indian National Movement and the most apparent facte of all struggles seems to be the presence of the middle class. Most of the Revolutionary Terrorists hailed from the middle class and so did most of the leaders of the Non-violent movement. It is the middle class that is uniquely situated- in terms of being vulnerable to inefficiencies of the 'system' and having the numbers to combat such inefficiencies. What's needed is a beginning.
This post was not intended to be entirely devoted to the utility of candle-marches but at the risk of contradicting myself I shoudl pose the question- what purpose do these marches serve? Call me a consequentialist if you may but in my opinion the utility of these marches is if not nothing, very close to nothing. The media get an event to cover, participants get an opportunity to perhaps exhibit placards but does this lead to any change, any effect on people who should perhaps be thrown out of their cosy chairs? The answer clearly is no. Assuming No, to the be the answer a pertinent enquiry shoudl perhaps be directed at exploring alternate means of tackling such situations, means through which we (the people) can achieve something for our own good and for the good of future generations that will take birth in our country.
The same middle class that exhibits unmatched enthusiasm when it comes to participation in events such as Marathons (another trend), candle-marches etc. shies away from exercising its franchise, from accosting officials, from garnering money and support for people who lay down their lives for the country and are not even spoken about- electronic media flashed news items devoted to the sacrifice of three IPS officers and Major Unni, but another martyr Havaldar Gajendra Singh was conveniently forgotten perhaps because he was not a Commissioned Officer unlike Major Unni. I mean no dis-prespect at all to Major Unni or the three IPS officers but what I do intend to highlight is the apathy with which the media and the middle class treats the sacrifices of constables (police and para-millitary forces) and non-commissioned officers.
In a democracy such as India, in order for an issue to assume importance (int he eyes of those who have been conferred the power to do something in that regard) what matters is being noticeable as a vote-bank. If the same avid supporters of candle-marches were to organise themselves and accost officials, politicians and such other 'public servants' (and make this a continual affair) perhaps the impact would be much more and qualitatively better.
I have been enrolled on a seminar course dealing with the unknown aspects of the Indian National Movement and the most apparent facte of all struggles seems to be the presence of the middle class. Most of the Revolutionary Terrorists hailed from the middle class and so did most of the leaders of the Non-violent movement. It is the middle class that is uniquely situated- in terms of being vulnerable to inefficiencies of the 'system' and having the numbers to combat such inefficiencies. What's needed is a beginning.
