Do we need 'Social Activism'?

Recently I read a very interesting article by Yoginder Sikand titled “Why I Gave Up on Social Activism”. It’s a very honest post and I think everyone who wants to bring social change or is a social activist should read it. I could relate to many points the author mentioned in his post. I went through a similar phase at one stage of my life. Like the author I was not born into a rich family or don’t have any economically privileged background, rather I was right in the middle of those ‘oppressed communities’ about which the author is talking in his post. I also intended to fight against social evils like 'caste/class oppression', 'gender injustice', and 'imperialism'. I did not get a chance to become a professional social activist or study that subject academically but I saw those things happening right in front of my own eyes, in my neighborhood, and even in my own family.

I can understand and relate very well with the feelings of the author when he says “But all that came with a heavy personal price. The more I identified with the 'Revolution' of the 'oppressed', the more unbearably negative I became as a person.” Many times when we decide to fight some sort of social evil or cultural prejudice our fight becomes focused against people who we think are responsible for those activities. Our whole efforts are targeted to criticize them, prove them wrong, and hope that our efforts will bring the desired social change. Many times we forget that it’s not those people who are the problem but the culture or the mindset of society.  If we analyze closely we can see that even the ‘oppressed class’ also doesn’t treat women fairly, there are also strong and weak sections within them, and often strong sections exploit the weak. I even saw women who struggled in their young days or during their childhood, when they became head of household or got some commanding position in the family behave similarly as their male counterparts, there is absolutely no difference. They also expect other women to fall in line, suppress them, and obey so-called social norms to protect the honor of their family. All these things made me think more deeply about these problems. It's not only the gender that is responsible for this attitude. I think it’s the human tendency to dominate and exploit the weak for their own benefit, it's a part of our animal instinct. 

Many individuals who are involved in these socially evil acts or oppressive activities are not bad people, they behave perfectly normal most of the time. But their minds are so conditioned by the social environment that they see nothing wrong in their outdated beliefs and their actions according to those beliefs. They think that whatever they are doing is the right thing to do, and that's why they are so convinced about the legitimacy of their actions. Just opposing them without listening to their side of the story didn't help me to proceed anywhere apart from landing into a lot of arguments. Endless arguments, where I was opposing their views and actions and they were fiercely justifying them by saying how it's their culture or religion, and how it is my duty also to behave like that. In my endless pursuit to bring that revolution and change I totally forgot that I also need to work hard to make myself a better human being. I was so busy reforming others that I almost forgot that I needed to reform myself also, after all, I was also the product of the same society. This made me introspect, pause, and think all over again. I realized that just opposing my family or people around me and fighting/arguing with them won't solve many problems rather might create some more problems for me. People can ignore me very easily, we may cease to exist for each other, but will that solve the problem? So, I decided first to listen to their point of view and look for answers within their beliefs and actions. The problem was not with them but was in their thinking and beliefs, it was in social structure which formed those beliefs. I was hitting the wrong target. Now, I don't hate these people, I try to understand them and then try to talk with them. I don't force my ideas on them but try to show that there might be some problems in their beliefs and there are better alternatives. Many started thinking about the issues I was talking about, everything was happening around them all the time but now they also started noticing it, and they started relating with me. It took time but slowly they started acknowledging the problem. My aim is to solve the problem, not to alienate the individuals.

I believe that I am heading somewhere, the process is slow but I think it is working. I am willing to wait and continue my efforts. Many people have dedicated their lives to these types of social causes I can definitely do my bit. I encourage my blog readers to look around and be part of the change that they want to bring. Just thinking about the change won't help. At least start the process, the results are not in our hands they will follow sooner or later.

According to me, we definitely need social activism, but in what form it's up to us to decide. Nothing wrong in making social activism a profession I am not against it. Doctors fight against human diseases, similarly, social activists fight against social diseases. We need social activists like we need doctors. The good part of social activism is that we all can be a part of it, we don't need any degree or training to participate in it. So let’s begin, together we can bring the change we desire.  

Thanks for reading and please share your views.

References:

1. http://www.countercurrents.org/sikand190412.htm

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)