Medha Patkar is again in the news. The lady is on indefinite hunger strike again. It is entering into 8’th day and she is not compromising. Everyone is going gaga about this one. Has the system failed? Is there no place for non-violent struggle? Is Gandhi irrelevant for India today? Questions are continuously asked. What else can you say when people like Medha Patkar go into hunger strikes every year or so and end it after receiving promises. She went into 21 days fasting in 1991. When she was in jail in 1999, she again did the same. Similar stories were witnessed in 2001, 2003 & 2004. Is this the failure of system or the lack of conviction among the agitating activists? I think it is both. But I will put the majority of the blame on the activists. If they are fighting for a cause, they should not give up on promises. They should demand action. If they cannot undergo such troubles, they better give up. Does this episode point towards failure of people’s movement? Yes. It is the clear indication that there is no more scope for people’s struggle in this country. Does that mean that there cannot be any massive protests over any controversial issues in this globalized times? Perhaps no. See what is happening in France. There is a massive people’s protest going on there for quite some time. That even the Government there is not listening is other question. It has proved that the mass movement has still not died all over the world. So the point is that there is still scope for massive people’s protests in this world. What is missing is the identification of issue that touches everyone’s life. When activists take up such issues and give a powerful leadership, mass movements can achieve what they intend to do. |
