What’s your reason to protest?

Scenes of youth unrest all over the world, from the Arab countries to Britain to New York and beyond may have triggered off memories of another time. Nostalgists who long for the heady days of the 1960s, when youngsters rebelled against the establishment in the US and France and it looked as if a new world order was about to be born.

The specific reasons for student riots in America and in France were different. On US college campuses students rose against the Vietnam war and soon many other causes got attached to it. The anti-establishment mood created the counter-culture, which reflected in books, movies and most of all music.
“Turn on, tune in, drop out,” said to be coined by psychologist Timothy Leary, who advocated the use of LSD, became the dominant cry of the times, as young Americans expressed their anger and disgust with those who held the reins of power.
The governments of the day hit back and the unrest eventually faded away, but the long-term social effects of those militant days can be felt till today.
France society changed fundamentally, shedding its older conservatism and becoming more liberal. In the US, the anti-war mood eventually forced the government to realise that it had to get out of Vietnam, which it did in the mid-70s after a huge loss of face.
India too was not untouched by this mood. Youngsters from upper middle-class families ran away from home and became Naxalites to “overthrow the system”. Some died and some came back but whatever else one might say about the ultra-left movement, it did make power structures sit up and take notice. That many lessons have been forgotten is a tragedy of our times.
Now, once again there is rebellion in the air and once again young people are very much there out in the front. The violence in London cannot exactly be compared to what happened in Egypt or what is now taking place on Wall Street, since the reasons are varied, but the impulses are similar. The Arabs wanted freedom from autocratic power structures while the Americans feel that the ordinary citizen has been shortchanged by the fat cats. In Britain, it was more a case of violence for its own sake, but even there the underprivileged were sending out a message.
How does the Anna Hazare crusade compare with events around the world? After all, here too it was youngsters coming out on the street (and using social media, which is a must), protesting against politicians and demanding change. The fervour of the agitators shook the establishment which recognised that it cannot continue its old ways; indeed, the Hazare camp can rightfully claim that it scored a victory by getting the government to formulate an entirely new law and institution. Indian protesters can rightfully say they are one up on their American counterparts.
But there are important differences between what happened in India and elsewhere which are revealing in what they tell us about our societies.
In Egypt, the demonstrators at Tahrir Square wanted to get rid of Hosni Mubarak, who had dictatorially ruled in his country with an iron fist for 30 years. Dissent was simply not allowed in his regime and his secret service was a brutal force that suppressed any opposition. Whatever one might say about the UPA or the political system in general, India remains a vibrantly democratic country where one can say anything against the Prime Minister and not be jailed for it. If anything, the Hazare acolytes were hailed and feted and his team members got away with all kinds of comments that would have got them into trouble anywhere else.
Nor can the followers of Mr Hazare’s campaign be compared with the Occupy Wall Street brigade. The average American youngster today is fearful about the future, worried that he will not have a job, a home or healthcare. The general feeling is that the government and its policies exist only for the corporate fat cats and high-flying financiers who have got richer while the rest of the country has got poorer. Their struggle is against the greed of big business and big banks which used taxpayer’s money to pay themselves huge bonuses.
No one who went to Ramlila Maidan must have even thought of criticising Indian businessmen. In all the speeches and debates on corruption, the otherwise articulate members and spokesperson of “Team Anna” stayed away from any mention of the corporate sector, despite the fact that many business men are currently in jail. No marches were taken out in Dalal Street or in front of a company headquarters.
The campaigners may not have even seen any irony in this, because they genuinely may not think that corruption also applies to the private sector. Instead of fighting big business, they may be wanting to join it. Thus, their’s was no rebellion against power structures but an agitation against one particular political order. The protesters in the US are no-hopers; those in India are comfortable.
The Indian economy is growing and the West is on the decline. Indian youth have much to lose if they rock the boat; their Western counterparts are in a mood of despair. Real rebellion can only come from hunger. There is no saying if the rallies in New York and other Western cities will achieve anything right away, but they will definitely have a long-term impact. In India, we may get a Jan Lokpal Bill but things will settle down to “normal” once again.