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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Young bloggers catalyse Dhaka protests-Sreelata Menon

Young bloggers catalyse Dhaka protests-Sreelata Menon

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published Published on Mar 11, 2013   modified Modified on Mar 11, 2013
-The Hoot

Bangladeshis all over the world were able to mount a flash campaign against a war tribunal verdict. SREELATA MENON says this proves once again the power of social media.

Digital activism is today a handy tool in the instant spread of ideas, thoughts and actual happenings in real time that can influence millions of minds in a matter of a few simple minutes. It is as handy in kicking off a flash mob as it is in starting an agitation. And that is exactly what is ripping through Bangladesh – the latest to join the cyber protest trail.

On February 5, a member of a mainstream party outfit was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes. He was found guilty of committing atrocities against the people during the liberation struggle of 1971. Within hours of the verdict, members of the ‘Blogger and Online Activist Network’ took up position at Shahbagh, an important junction in Dhaka, and began protesting against the verdict of the International Crimes Tribunal. They believed that the verdict was too lenient. They wanted him to hang. And soon it was apparent they were not the only ones. In no time at all that demand – with a few more – was echoed across the country by all sections of society. The reaction was so spontaneous and immediate that it caught the government unawares. But seizing the moment, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina whose father Mujibur Rahman is credited with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, quickly came out in support of the protestors .She has since moved an amendment in Parliament to accommodate their demands.

The Shahbagh protestors are largely all students with no known affiliation to any political party or political outfits. And Bloggers Online and Activists Network, that ignited the nation thus, is a loose and informal group of young bloggers whose convenor is Imran H Sarkar. That they have turned the Establishment, nay, the country on its head is an understatement. Chalking out strategies as they go along and playing it by ear, they are extremely alive to the occasion and determined to stay the course. Squatting on pavements and kerbs, busy with their laptops and smart phones, these ‘Cyber Warriors’ through the New Media are reaching out to people, spreading the word around and creating a new sense of awareness and patriotism. Such is the outpouring of support from across the country that politicians and political parties are being made to rethink their strategies and alliances

Spreading furiously through #shahbagh, shahbag.org and free broadcasting websites Ustream, jagoBD among others, it has educational institutions across the country hoisting the national flag and people from all walks of life holding hands to form human chains in support. Lighting candles and observing three minute silences they are taking out processions and holding rallies. Across the world, Bengalis from Bangladesh are also taking up the cause. From Toronto to London, spontaneous groups have begun meeting and the movement is gathering momentum. Young students are walking from Kolkata to Shahbagh to join the protestors, the Indian state of Tripura is organising meetings at the border to express solidarity and veterans of the liberation movement everywhere have now begun to see themselves in these youngsters.

Could all this have been achieved – though Youtube is banned here – without new or social media?

If anyone had any doubts about the power and reach of the social media then this young group of online bloggers have in no less than a few days established yet again its humongous ability to influence, mobilise and create a movement that could easily have far-reaching implications. Perhaps. But the violent fallout in many of those countries who have used New Media to fight their battles and indeed now in Bangladesh (blogger Rajib was murdered last week) itself suggests that it’s still a long way from actually replacing more aggressive modes of displacement and is at best – at the moment – a powerful catalyst. But be that as it may, the advent of New Media into the world of politics has already begun to demand a new kind of accountability from governments, kings and dictators that go beyond mere elections and inherited or self-proclaimed authority.

Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria and now Bangladesh. Are we seeing the beginning of a new form of warfare? Dare we hope that guns, bullets and bombs as weapons of dissent are in the process of giving way to Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Tumblr? Can it be that social media has discovered a new and peaceful way to topple governments, cause uprisings and change the way our political leaders rule us? Perhaps.

Despite the violence unleashed against them and repressive measures taken to suppress and curb the internet, a regime change was inevitable in Tunisia. When the Tunisian vegetable vendor Mohammad Bouazizi set himself on fire (December 2010) in a desperate act of protest against the policemen who had confiscated his cart, would he have believed it would bring down his country’s leader? Would he have ever imagined that images of his self-immolation, taken by a few passersby and posted on Youtube and the internet, would effect ramifications in other parts of the world as well? That it would soon become a symbol of oppression and unemployment and the rallying point for other protests?

The very spread of the ‘Arab Spring’ itself, thereafter, was only due to a massive populous uprising and marshalling of crowds demanding change in their own respective countries. But mass protests and spontaneous agitations are not new phenomena. Then what is? Such ‘shared awareness’ is. In Tunisia, Youtube, it can safely be said, acted as the catalyst that created it, with Twitter and Facebook not far behind.

We saw it in India for the first time when Anna Hazare let loose an anti-corruption movement last year. We saw it again as recently as December 2012 when the Delhi Rape happened. Young unknown civil society activists – mobilising, coordinating and organising massive crowds through smses and blogs – lobbied with the government for an anti-corruption Lokpal Bill, and women young and old, out in their thousands forced the government to set up a commission under a Supreme Court judge to revamp and strengthen rape laws.

Where – before the internet became New Media’s hunting ground – only a few thousands would have gathered to protest, now millions of smses and internet posts mobilise tens of thousands of like-minded people across all sections of society from all walks of life in no time at all. It’s cheaper, more efficient and quicker than flyers, posters and other more conventional modes of communication. And even before governments can react, video clips and posts by even unknown amateurs – linked to other New Media tools – are able to harness the main streamline media to espouse their cause, pressurise and get the world to focus international attention on them, even in the farthest corners of the world.

As early as 2001, forwarded text messages – as many as 7 million – launched the first ever gathering of protestors in Manila to get their legislators to reverse decisions. In Iran,on the other hand, the government carried its ongoing ground battle on to the internet, came down heavily on anti-government websites and used the same tools to launch a counteroffensive of misinformation, curbs and propaganda against anti government protests. And though with every cyber crackdown tech-savvy youngsters discover new innovative methods to navigate cyber blocks, cyber warfare’s weakness lies in the fact that it can only succeed if it is ably supported by on-ground non-violence and governmental acquiescence, reluctant though it might be. Otherwise chances are that it will lose steam sooner than later and eventually peter our. As it did in Iran.

Different countries, different demands but the tools – increasingly the same. New Media.

The Hoot, 5 March, 2013, http://www.thehoot.org/web/Young-bloggers-catalyse-Dhaka-protests/6644-1-1-8-true.html


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