Social Movements In Our Times

I do not agree with Ramya. A person should not be restricted in any way. His freedom must never be curtailed in terms of his right to speech, right to education, right to secure job and the right to be treated equally. Living in poverty cannot be the basis as to which this statement can be justified.

I agree with Salma. An individual not only requires food but other securities as well. Although food is extremely important and adequate provisions must be made for the same, freedom of the press is also important. Press creates awareness about the happenings in other parts of the world. Without, a person in one part of the country will not have access to or knowledge about the other parts.

I partially agree with Kannayya. Although in recent times, the richer sections of the society have control over the press and they usually tend to cover up the stories which might harm them, the press still remains a powerful source of voice among the people.

A social movement has the following features :

1. The social movement involves collective action. This collective action can take the form of a movement only when it is sustained for a longer period. It should also create an interest in a relatively large number of people.
2. A social movement is oriented towards bringing about a social change. this may be partial or total. Do the movements are usually focused on bringing a change in the values and ideologies of the existing system, it can also resist a change.

3. It requires a proper organisational framework to achieve success or at least to maintain the tempo of the movement

4. It may adopt its own technique or method to achieve the goal. Follow peaceful or conflicting, violent or nonviolent compulsive or persuasive, democratic or undemocratic means for the same.

The ordinary individual plays an extremely important role in social movements. These movements are complex yet crucial to society. Different people have different roles in a social movement.

1. Some of them, focus on communicating their issues with the ruling party. They observe and analyze the mishappening and communicate it with the ruling class so that they can together work towards eradicating it.

2. Other people may focus on doing what they can to remedy the situation.

3. There are also certain people who see the problem as a power to make a change in society. They are rebellious in nature, and they can adopt any means whether violent or nonviolent to take their issues to the ruling class.

4. An individual can either assist or undermine movement depending upon how they wish to play the role. They can either generate drama and use violent methods and take a negative way of protesting, or they can choose tactics so that they can powerfully gain the upper hand in the social movement.

Social movements come into existence when a change is either forced on them or when they demand a change. The movement for rights of people in USA and Meira Pabi movements had one basic feature similar between them. They both resisted the change imposed on them.

The Civil right movement was for equal treatment of black Americans.

1. They were against the rules of segregation of black and white in school,buses and public places.

2. They were discriminated in appointment and voting right.

Martin Luther King said it is necessary to use peaceful means to achieve equality for all the people.

Meira Paibi was a movement to prevent public disorder due to alcohol abuse in the late 1970s. It soon became a movement for human rights with the massive deployment of Indian armed forces to counter the armed forces for Manipuri independence. The Indian armed forces had powers in the name of AFSPA. This led to the frequent military operation and human right violation.

Social movements are based on different issue collection of individuals. They are expressed through different forms such as a voice on the street, an article in a newspaper or a petition on social media. It has a great influence on the democratically elected leaders. They can often put a check on democracy as well as create huge repercussions in the long run . Social movements have now become the basis for shaping the modern democratic life. They have become the single most important intermediary between citizens and the government.

We can also say that movements can actually replace an entire party in the future — for example, the creation of Aam Aadmi party in India. It started with the activist Anna Hazare's hunger strike in 2001. The impact of the protest was further intensified by the media coverage and social media. But the protesters realised that the ruling class is unresponsive and chose to become a formal party among themselves to fight the allegations of corruption.

However, not all social movements have struggled against democracy. Some have also become important factors in the development of democracy to a better level. Some progressive movement tends to strive for an inclusive and transparent form of decision making. If proper attention is paid to the internal and external factors that have an effect on the practices of social movements, it becomes a point of benefit for democracy.

The Bhopal Gas tragedy occurred in 1984. A poisonous gas out of the Union Carbide factory which was later purchased by the Dow company. Thousands of workers lost their lives, and many more are still suffering from the negative effects of this blast. This was the worst industrial disaster in the world. It has mobilized people across the globe to protest against this tragedy. The people have formed many movements and organizations taking steps to provide for the same. They have four major demands:

1. Proper treatment of the victims.

2. Adequate compensation for them based on the international standards as the company in question was an MNC.

3. Fix proper responsibility for the disaster on the management of the company.

4. Taking steps to avoid such disasters in the future.

Although they have succeeded in certain claims, they have a long way to go. Many victims are still suffering from its effect although a large amount of money has been spent on setting up more medical facilities in Bhopal. The compensation provided is not according to international standards. The government has failed to prosecute and punish the company for its negligence. The protest is quite difficult because the company is itself based in the USA. The people need to use International laws to fight against this problem. It has bought together the people across the globe for this movement. Many people have boycotted products made by this company. When the company sponsored Olympics in London, many people signed petition and organisations also pointed out this Alliance between the company and Olympic body was unethical.