How Bangalore can no longer shut up the aam aadmi

Never has the IT capital of the nation stood up as one, as has happened in the last 12 months. People from the city are now vocal in the protests against injustice or cases that law enforcement agencies have ignored. Be it rape cases, or incidents of sexual abuse of students, or the latest attempt by the Karnataka government to allegedly hush up the probe into the death of the IAS officer DK Ravi under mysterious circumstances, Bangaloreans have come out on the streets to register their protest.

This kind of a phenomenon was not seen two-three years ago in Bangalore. Either people were too preoccupied with their work or did not show any interest in taking up the matter. But now the unforeseen people’s movement is even prompting the government to amend laws and come up with new guidelines to ensure the safety and security of Bangaloreans.

Last year, when minor girls were sexually harassed in schools, the police took it casually. But within a week, thousands of people took to the streets, condemning the police’s lackadaisical attitude. Eventually, such was the pressure from the people that the state government, in a damage control exercise, even shunted out the Bangalore city police commissioner. Over the next few days, the government announced guidelines to ensure the safety of students in schools.

That was not an isolated case considering the sensitivities involved. Earlier this month, a speeding truck on the Airport Road mowed down a college student after ploughing through vehicles at a traffic junction. Though the police managed to nab the driver, the incident brought to light another serious flaw in traffic management. It emerged that the pleas of the local residents for a pedestrian subway crossing or a foot over bridge to cross the road at the junction had fallen on deaf ears.

Even as the police were wondering about the issue, a day after the accident, thousands of youth voluntarily blocked the Airport Road for almost a day, throwing traffic out of gear and inconveniencing air travellers. They wanted the government to sanction a foot over bridge at the accident spot.

The police did not expect so many college students to protest. It took several hours for politicians and city administrators to convince the protesters. In the case of DK Ravi when the government refused to hand over the probe to the CBI, once again, people, particularly, youth came on to the streets demanding the government to hand over the case to the CBI. Likewise, the people’s response was the same in the case of racial attacks on students from the Northeast.

It is important to note that in all these cases, no organisation took the lead in mobilising people’s support to register their protest. Much of this unorganised people’s movement can be attributed to the growth of social media. Support groups on Twitter and Facebook have become common whenever people witness acts of injustice. Interestingly, this online support has converted into offline support as well, as witnessed in all the recent incidents with people turning up in huge numbers.

The state government has been proactive. The Bangalore police are present on social media and is responding to problems. Nevertheless, the protests have kept the city administrators on their toes and this trend is gaining momentum. Hopefully, the government will understand it cannot take things for granted now.