GREAT JANUARY UPRISING OF TAMIL NADU - PART 1

Tamil Nadu was in the spotlight for more than a week on all media, not just in India, but across the globe. Reason…a protest!

Protests are not new to Tamil Nadu. As per Union home ministry records, Tamil Nadu topped the list with 20,450 agitations in year 2015 (Punjab is next in the list with a count of 13,089). Some of these ‘protests’ are organized by vote-bank political parties for their own benefit; lot of ‘protesters’ will be bought (the word ‘bought’ is not misspelt) to these ‘protests’. A few democratic organizations do take up genuine causes and organize agitations often. But the one referred here is not any of this kind. 

There were no posters, no cut-outs or banners; no loud speakers; no one offered money or biriyani or liquor, which are typical for gathering crowd for the ‘protests’ organized by vote-bank political parties. But here, the crowd gathered spontaneously; not in thousands or ten thousands; but hundreds of thousands of people gathered each day for more than a week! It was unbelievable, not just for people of Tamil Nadu, but for the whole of India. All who witnessed it were awestruck! After the anti-Hindi agitation of the 1960’s, this is the only protest which has attracted such a huge crowd from all walks of life. Astonishment grew manifold when the news said none of the regional or national political parties coordinated it! In fact, vote-bank politicians or political parties were not even allowed to enter the site!

By now you would have guessed it! Yes it is the Jallikattu protests in the state of Tamil Nadu!!

Breaking the old notions

Though it was youngsters who gathered first, none in the society were able to escape the gravity of this protest. Right from school-going kids to elders above 90 years of age were there at the protest sites across Tamil Nadu. Words would be inadequate to describe this phenomena where the white collar employees from IT majors and MNCs, blue-collar workers, small traders, doctors, lawyers, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Dalits, upper castes, women, transgenders, the rich and poor - everyone joined hands with each other. Not just Tamils; even Kannadigas, Telugus, Malayalis, Hindi speaking people were also there. People transcended their caste, religion, class, gender or creed to make this possible. Small traders downed their shutters; workers boycotted their work; buses, lorries, autos, vans were off the road. No one imagined that such a phenomenon would ever happen, and that too in India! Even a day prior to the protests, one would have easily dismissed that it is a utopian thought; but not anymore – it was real and happening in front of our eyes. Not just in Chennai – this was the case in almost every other city / town in Tamil Nadu.

Youngsters played a major role in this. When we say youngsters, the first thing that comes to our mind is their indiscipline and careless attitude. General opinion is that they would always be lazy; busy with their smart phones; gather as gang, get drunk, involve themselves in eve-teasing or some silly violence; or would be eccentrically following their favourate movie-stars. All these are typical pastimes of the youngsters of our times. But as against all these, the protest sites across the state were utterly disciplined and well organized; the credit for which goes to the youngsters.

At home, they might have made their mom scream at them for keeping their place messy. But, at the protest site, the very same girl and boy worked so sincerely to keep the place neat, clean and tidy. They cleared the traffic; organized the crowd; and also gathered food, water and toilet facility for the protesters. Many of the youngsters who would not even tolerate a couple of minutes of discomfort, were staying at the protest site day and night without bothering about scorching sun or shivering cold or mosquito bites.

Another most important and incredible aspect that the media unbelievably noted is the safety of women who participated in the protests. Women, many of who were young, were able to stay at the protest sites day and night in the midst of thousands of unknown men, without any fear of being harassed. There was a picture showing a girl sitting in the midst of hundreds of unknown men; message below the picture says “when lights are switched off our hands would extend, not to molest women, but to protect them”. They were referring to an incident when the local authorities switched off the lights at the protest site with an intention to disperse the crowd. But the youth used flash lights of their mobile phones to brighten the place; government eventually gave up and allowed the protest to continue. Another girl went a step ahead and proudly compared the care and affection of the men at the protest site to that of her own father. At the protest site all men, without exception, addressed women as “sister”; it was not a rule – but still everyone followed it. NDTV’s editorial director Sonia Singh tweet urged Delhi to learn from Chennai. The tweet said: “Most remarkable thing about the #jallikattu protests is the young women staying at the beach with no fear of harassment. Delhi should learn”

Gandhi used to say that India would be really free only when women feel safe to walk alone in the streets of India in the middle of the night. The youth of Tamil Nadu made that happen, not just in Chennai, but in each and every town across the state.

Next remarkable aspect is the direct involvement of the middle and the upper-middle class in the protests. This section would typically stamp every protest as useless and would dismiss them as disturbance to public peace. But this time, Jallikattu protests saw them joining hands with the youth all over Tamil Nadu. One of the participants said, “I came here on the day the protest started. I have a son. My husband and son encouraged me to participate in the protests. I spend the whole day here, and go home only around 10pm everyday; my in-laws are taking care of all the house-hold chores.”

Most of the protesters participated with their family. Participation with the family, especially children, is typical to the protests organized by a few democratic organizations. These organizations have faced severe criticisms on a number of occasions for involving children. But, in Jallikattu protests children were the primary crowd pullers! They compelled their parents to take them to Jallikattu protests almost every day. Children holding banners and shouting slogans in their cute voice was a major attraction to the media. One of the journalists asked a father, why he brought his child to the protest site? He proudly responded that there is a lot happening at the protest site for children to learn. “Children these days don’t know anything other than computer games and cartoon; it is the duty of the parents to expose them to the world. When I heard that such a protest is happening here, I straight-away brought my children here; they started raising slogans enthusiastically as soon as they reached here” said another parent.

Normally during protests, arranging food and water are the most difficult task; but not in this one. Food, water and snacks were so seamlessly organized. No one knows who did it, how or from where! Almost all the participants spent their own money generously; some small traders/hoteliers supplied food and water for free; even the street vendors at beach who sell groundnuts, chickpeas and corn, pitched-in by supplying all their stocks to the protesters free of cost; women who came to participate brought packs of biscuits and snacks with them to share with children; some volunteers arranged toilets for the women, umbrellas and bed sheets for infants. The youth gave top priority to fulfill the needs of women, children and elders. It is astounding to note that these protests have transformed the youth from self-centred, to selfless, generous, caring and responsible individuals.

Another striking achievement was absence of theft. Even with such a huge crowd, not a single theft was reported. Media were running stories of those who lost their wallets, expensive phones or watches, getting them back in less than 10 minutes. In one instance, a lost child was located and returned home within couple of hours. All these, with not even a single policeman at site for bundobust! Not just at the protest sites, media reported a sharp decline in crime rates in all cities and towns across Tamil Nadu.

It doesn’t end there. It has turned-on the democratic spirit of the people as well. Different events were happening and it was up to the participants to choose. Some people were giving speeches; some were singing songs; some were raising slogans; some were beating parai drums. No one compelled anyone to stay at a particular place or leave. This freedom attracted even more crowd to the protest venue. There was no compulsion from anyone to wear black clothes; but still many chose to wear black.

All these, despite the fact that the protests were not centrally led or organized by a single individual or party or organization. But still, protesters all over the state followed a discipline. What made this possible?

(to be continued)