We have been
protesting too much and that too again and again against our own government - the
government we have elected- and the government is suppressing the people
protesting against it again and again. We have seen that during Anna Hazare
movement, during Ramdev protest and now during this Delhi gang rape case. Every
time people protest our leaders (Should I call them leaders?) fail miserably to
manage the protest and contain the emotion of its own people. When
emotions are so high, people need a leader who can speak not only with equal
emotion but also with passion. Unfortunately we don't seem to have that voice at
the moment.
Today the crowd at
Raisina Hill went out of control and Delhi police used lathi, water cannon and tear gas. Forget about water cannon try
pouring a mug of cold water over you in this chilly weather of Delhi. It was a
leaderless protest where some were asking to hang the criminals, some were
asking to hand over to them, some were asking for a change in law and some were
trying to divert attention towards women safety in public transport system.
Perhaps the only little thing this youthful crowd was expecting amid all these
demands was that some responsible leader will come forward and will listen and talk
to them and give them some sort of assurance. The expectation of that assurance
was too much for our leaders who chose to watch them being lathi-charged, water- canonized and tear-gased instead of
interacting with them. It was in a way repetition of what government
did with Anna Hazare when it arrested
him or when it ordered Delhi police to go berserk on sleeping people at
night during Ramdev's protest.
Why
do we have to come out and protest when we have much better work to do? Why the
government has become blind, deaf and dumb? Why do we have to remind government
of its duties again and again? Why can’t the government act? We declare so
proudly that India is the youngest nation on planet with almost half of its
population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. But when
the young India was bursting in anger today in Delhi there was no one to
placate them. Where are our so called charismatic leaders? It is an irony that
the youngest nation on the planet is governed by some oldest people in power. There is a
huge disconnect. If government doesn’t act then people might just start taking
law into their hands. One can sense that if one goes by messages on some of the
posters people were carrying at today’s protest.
