Don’t be stupid, get past your old fashioned reactive
measures to douse protests – times have changed. Communicate but more than that
lend the peaceful protesters your ears…
India and Indians are not new to protests and peaceful ones
at that. Be it the 1920’s non-cooperation movement or taking to the streets for
causes that it is moved by – Jessica Lal in 2006, or the one in support of Anna
Hazare’s Lokpal agitation or the more recent peaceful protests demanding justice
for Damini / Amanat / Braveheart / Nirbhaya; examples are a galore. However,
what has perhaps not changed is the treatment meted out to these peaceful
protesters from those in the power corridors. Consider this: when people in New
Delhi gathered for peaceful protests seeking justice for the victim and
punishment for the accused; the police fired tear gas and water cannons to
disperse the crowd and beat them with batons. Sensing the rage against these
measures, the government went on to impose Section 144 so as to prohibit
protests and demonstrations in the area around India Gate and Raisina Hills and
also shut down metro stations. While the government may have thought these as
quick fix solutions, the truth is that not only has the government lost touch with ground
realities but also its responses were unprovoked. The question is, has the
government totally misread the protests – the one being led by vocal, urban,
educated and potential middle class who use social media and are not willing to
tolerate the unaccountable, unresponsive political class and bureaucratic
elite. Given the media attention that these unplanned and spontaneous protests
have been able to garner, does it not make sense for the political class (read
the government / bureaucracy) to pay heed and perhaps lend them their ears?
Well going by the initial response, it seemed that the ‘powers
that be’ was more interested in dousing the protests and at best resorting to
symbolism. Perhaps the thought was that public memory is short and hence the
pre-text for not positively responding to the peaceful protests. In an
interview to CNN IBN, the Home Minister said, “You cannot have instant
solutions.” While the political class failed to seize the moment and act with
immediacy, the statements such as the above in a way is reflective of the mismatch
between the young and restless generation and a government that is yet to
adjust to new age pace. Had it not been for such old fashioned thought process,
genuine voices of protest would have been heard with empathy and not tear gas,
water cannons and lathi-charge. While stating these actions to be ‘politically
stupid,’ Jayati Ghosh, Professor, JNU said during a protest, “The problem is
that the government is not even listening.” All thanks to their thought
process, the government missed the opportunity of defusing the anger by
embracing the protests and providing comfort and reassurance. If at all it
came; it was too late by then.
Corporate India too has witnessed their share of unrests and
a few ugly ones at that. Can we draw some lessons from these protests and learn
how to embrace the protest and manage them too. Perhaps yes. Communication (a
dialogue to be more apt) must go beyond what Rajdeep Sardesai in his column
terms ‘traditional lakshman rekhas.’ Essentially this means that when faced
with such a situation those at the helm of affairs must step out, summon up the
courage and enthusiasm and rediscover the human touch. It is only then that the
anger can be channelized to bring about change in the policies and practices.
Unlike, the lackadaisical attitude and approach taken by the
government, the learning for organizations when confronted with protests would
be to take them seriously, even if they are small or seemingly disorganized. An
apathetic treatment could result in a seemingly small protest gaining steam and
eventually morphing into crises. Rather
get to the heart of the matter, identify the messages that the protesting
groups want to air and address the issues publicly if that be so. Taking a cue
from the on-going protest and how a few of our elected representatives
articulated on the subject; organizations would do well to maintain a
consistent undertone of respect, restraint and control – particularly with
media communications. And yes, the message that needs to be sent out should be simple,
direct and above all, honest.
The writing on the wall is - by being responsive from the
onset, these issues potentially can be contained and, hopefully, successfully
concluded. What is perhaps needed is empathetic ears… do lend them your ears…
