Lend them your ears

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…