India's virtual vigilantes

By M H Ahssan

A new form of vigilantism - cyber-activism - has gained currency in India as a powerful tool to mobilize public opinion, strengthen civic engagement, invite democratic participation or even encourage "electronic" civil disobedience.

This novel mode of communication - which has manifested itself through a slew of well-received public campaigns - offers a "virtual" platform to citizens and voluntary groups to advance their political, humanitarian and social causes. And such is the buzz this kind of crusading is creating that it is fast turning into a hotbed of real activism. From sending e-mail alerts to using the web to publicize opinions, issue press releases and highlight human rights violations, these multi-pronged campaigns have come to represent the new face of grassroots activism in India.

"For a democratic country like India, virtual vigilantism offers new mechanisms of expression, representation and mobilizing of interests and political opinion," said sociologist Dr Anil Nanda. "The virtual world is more than just a cyber-meeting place. It has morphed into a powerful vehicle for social change."

In addition to human rights organizations, Nanda claims that in a country like India - with 1.1 billion people - development projects also need to use information communication technologies to empower communities and support the flow of information to remote regions.

For instance, last month, when an Indian print journalist leveraged her Facebook network to form the "Consortium of Pub-Going, Loose and Forward Women" to counter the right-wing Sri Ram Sene (which had attacked pub-going women in Mangalore last month) it created a huge pan-India buzz within a few days of being launched. Encouraged by the overwhelming response, consequently an offline activity via a blog, the Gandhigiri-inspired Pink Chaddi campaign was also launched which attracted a similarly effusive response from over 40,000 people. In a concerted move, this group then dispatched carton loads of pink underwear to the Sri Ram Sene hooligans.

Cyber-warriors like the "Consortium Women" are being seen as India's new political watchdogs, eschewing conventional political routes to build up a groundswell of support amongst like-minded people.

Another recent Indian campaign that has mobilized tremendous public support is Jaago Re ("Wake up!"), supported by the Janaagraha Center for Citizenship and Democracy and Tata Tea. The campaign is targeted at youth, aiming to inform them of their political rights. It involves a website that hosts a first-of-its kind online voter registration engine and ensures that people register on the voters' list through a continuous stream of communications via e-mails and text messages. It also guides the voters on which forms to fill out, where to drop them off and where to cast their votes.

"We've got an unbelievable response to our movement," said one Jaago Re campaign volunteer. "People are really happy that we're guiding them with basic things about India's electoral procedure, how they can exercise their franchise etc, which they never knew despite India being the world’s largest democracy! This is a vital campaign also because two-thirds of the Indian population is comprised of youth."

The upshot of this novel form of vigilantism is that diverse social and political groups are finding their voices outside the realm of conventional politics. In other words, political parties are no longer monopolizing the public opinion domain. Civil society and voluntary groups are injecting fresh ideas into politics and mobilizing social interests and changing public perceptions. Having bypassed conventional politics, these groups are engaging directly with the public.

Even during the Mumbai terror strikes in November last year, many people who felt outraged by the massacre - which killed over 200 people and destroyed property worth millions - became cyber-warriors and played the catalytic role of generating effective public campaigns. As a part of the protest, a candlelight vigil was organized by these groups to garner mass support through the Internet.

Even Indian political parties seem to have taken to virtual crusades with aplomb. To buttress their street corner meetings and door-to-door campaigns, these parties are also wooing tech-savvy voters who aren't too inclined towards street rallies.

However, there's a downside to this virtual warfare. With parliamentary elections around the corner, some political parties and their candidates are engaging in an intense cyber-war with opponents to score political brownie points. The political "activism" of Shiv Sainiks - better known as India's self-appointed moral police - in Orkut, for instance, tops the list of social networking sites in India with over 14 million visitors. Capitalizing on this mass base, the Sainiks invariably unleash their retrogressive agenda and continue with moral policing by vandalizing Internet cafes and blocking entire web communities for hosting what it deems "objectionable" content.

As experts point out, one has to learn to look beyond the ostensible and immediate issue of freedom of speech in cyber-activism. This is especially important in a country like India with its multifarious castes, cultures, political beliefs and religions as hundreds of intemperate ethnic and racial comments - masquerading as "Hindu nationalist sentiments" - fly back and forth in web discussion forums to influence young minds.

Nanda opines that the changing dynamics of modern communication - such as the one manifested by cyber-activism - are rapidly altering the contours of established politics. The Internet has put in place fresh templates for mobilizing social, political, religious and national sentiments in a manner that is radically different from conventional and partisan politics.

Cyber-based activism is breaking fresh ground in arenas traditionally reserved for party politicians. By giving a voice to marginalized groups, this new mode of communication is impacting the course of mainstream politics. New technology has helped forge new political forums for marginalized groups. Some of these groups are creating their own niches by thinking out of the box, advocating ideas dissimilar from those of the establishment and challenging the status quo.

Unfortunately, often a departure from the political stereotype doesn't quite go down well with the powers that be. Such is the case with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, for instance, who even considered blocking Facebook in his country because of its growing popularity among Egyptian youth. Similarly, the Syrian government banned Facebook due to an anti-regime, e-mail spam campaign that coursed through the site in 2007.

But regardless of such impediments, the Syrians sallied forth, succeeding in conveying their political message to like-minded people.

While India's virtual vigilantes may not yet have encountered such impediments from the state in their missions, there's no denying that with the tribe of such crusaders growing by the day, the Indian government just might introduce a system of checks and balances. And that might not be such a bad thing.