that's the point. they have no clue how to contain a struggle which transgress the 'stright' grammar of protest. they were puzzled and became nastily violent.
On 4/10/08, Anivar Aravind <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The grammar of protest > By C S Venkiteswaran > http://www.infochangeindia.org/analysis256.jsp > > Kerala does not tolerate anything but calibrated and conventional > protest. The media recently "exposed"a group of youngsters expressing > solidarity with the Chegara land struggle as frolicking and not > serious. They trivialised in the process both the cause and the > process of investigative journalism > > > > Some weeks ago, a group of cultural activists and youth undertook a > night vigil in front of the secretariat at Thiruvananthapuram, to > declare solidarity with the people's struggle in Chengara. A number of > important social activists and commentators took part. > > The next day, Kairali and People's TV beamed visuals of the event: > young people sitting around, talking, smoking, walking, lying down, > and hugging. Obviously they were unaware of the hidden camera fixed > across the street. The commentary that accompanied the visuals was > sarcastic, casting aspersions on the intentions of the youth in > question. By "exposing" the "degeneration" of the protestors, the news > item hinted at the "real intentions" and "degeneration" of the land > rights struggle at Chengara, as if the visuals were a reflection of > that battle. It was obviously directed at debunking the people's > struggle in Chengara. It was like saying: look at the company they > keep! > > One could not have missed the contrast. At Chengara, a life and death > struggle is underway where people are fighting for land and > challenging the state by threatening to commit suicide if the police > intervene by force. It is a spontaneous struggle in which the > self-proclaimed "monopolists" of popular struggles have no role. The > only way to counter such a struggle from the outside is to tarnish it, > denigrate it and stamp it as "extremist". To explain it away as > "gullible" people falling prey to the machinations of vested > interests. > > That is exactly what the state and the party have been doing ever > since the struggle caught the attention of the media and the public at > large. The strategy is to identify and isolate individuals behind the > struggle and launch a smear campaign against them; not to address or > analyse the issue at hand. > > So what do we see at the vigil? A group of committed, concerned > youngsters making merry at midnight in the middle of the city! > Obviously the media was waiting for such an opportunity and readily > zoomed in on the "juicy" story, "exposing" the full reality. > > This sort of telecast for public consumption prompts several questions > and offers insights into our notions about morality. > > Over the years, political struggles have acquired and assumed a > language of their own in Kerala. They have specific formats and modes > of expression -- processions, sit-ins, pen-downs, dharnas, > satyagrahas, hunger strikes, slogan-shouting, memorandum-filing, > road-blocking, stone-throwing, destruction of public property (buses > are especially vulnerable), hartals, bandhs, etc. These interventions > or forms of struggle are graded, calibrated and performed according to > the gravity of the situation and the amount of public support, > especially from the middle class. Obviously, it is the affected > parties' clout with the system that really matters and decides the > form of protest, which is actually a kind of structured dialogue > between the affected people and the powers-that-be. It is common > knowledge that often, when a serious issue comes up the minister or > concerned authority himself asks the affected parties to "stage" a > public protest so that enough public opinion and pressure is (seen to > be) created for the state to take a favourable decision. It's a drama > where the affected appear to protest and the state appears to listen > and take action. The great drama called democracy! > > But if someone dares to break the rules and does not follow the > grammar of protests, everything is turned around. Because the > powers-that-be are clueless about how to contain it; and more > importantly, such protests make them seem "powerless". > > Only in calibrated and conventional "struggles" do the protestors need > to follow the rules: rules about how to behave, about demeanour, > speech, body language. Look "serious" so that you mimic the gravity of > the situation. No smiles, at least in front of the camera. You are > "crusaders", "cross-bearers". Do not loosen your grip on the elaborate > performance put up for public consumption. Be the message! > > So what happened the night of the vigil? The protesting youth > certainly didn't look "serious" or "grave"; they didn't act the part > of martyrs being led to the stake. They didn't even bother to put on > appropriate faces! Instead, they were frolicking and making merry, > chatting, smoking, and hugging. How can the guardians of public > morality stand such behaviour? Naturally, the moralists sprang into > action, denouncing the "debaucheries" of the youth, using their spy > cameras so that all was "revealed" to the world at large. It was as if > they were smuggling visuals out of a nuclear plant or the Pentagon! > > The protestors were going about their activities in a public space and > in full public view (what could be more public than the footpath in > front of the state secretariat?). The photographers, on the other > hand, were not casual passersby. The spy camera was being directed at > a public act; in other words it was an act of spying on a public > protest performed in front of the public, in a public space. > > The energy and enthusiasm of these "investigative" journalists and > their spy cameras would be better directed at the real centres of > power and conspiracy; at the authorities that decide our lives and our > futures, than on a group of youngsters just being themselves in a > public space. If we leave our future to the moral policemen who keep > vigil on public protests for us, who dictate to us "how to protest", > we are doomed. > > More importantly, let such "exposes" not muddle our exposure to the > real struggles, both for our land and for our freedom. > > (Dr C S Venkiteswaran is director of a media school in Kochi. He is > also a filmmaker and film critic) > > InfoChange News & Features, April 2008 > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
