History is a constant reminder of our present world. It is not only a few facts of the past but it tell the realities of the people in the past. It is not even a history of the rise of empires but it is also the stories of the fall of empires. The main player in the empire building and its collapse are not actually the kings and the queens, but the people who builds and rebuilds. The kings and queens are in the hands of the people. I am not talking about democracy as understood today where a few elected representatives run the so call sarkar-government and execute everything against the will people in the name of democracy. Rather it is exactly a kind of kleptocarcy-a sarkar of thieves clothed in democratic clothing. This is not the kind of democracy that is in the hands of the people. But a revolution powered by people’s power before whom the power of bullet becomes useless.
The present people’s revolution wave in most of the entire Arab world is not a new trend in history. It was and will be, provided that sarkar continues to neglect the people’s aspiration. As long as sarkar overlook the people’s will, revolution will be the only option. The past is a clear reminder - the 1848 European Revolutions, often called as “Spring of Nations”, or “Year of Revolution” or “Springtime of the Peoples” whatever name it may be, it talks about people’s movement against regimes that keeps people in the periphery in the sarkar agenda. Often the economic imbalance resulting to unemployment of the masses and when the poor stomach is deprived by corruption or by the hands of the regime, a revolution is imminent and this is what exactly happened in European Revolution.
The books on people’s revolutions in the recent past are lying in our shelf. Some are yet to finish for the lessons to be learned. The Iranian Revolution of 1979- “The Islamic Revolution” or “1979 Revolution” as it is named, are hissing in our ears about the overthrow of monarchy by the people who experience economic crises. On the other hand the regime or the sarkar is seen by the people as oppressive, brutal, corrupt, and extravagant. The Philippine Revolution of 1986 or popularly known as “The People Power Revolution” or “Yellow Revolution” lies in the same line with any other revolution, the vocabulary may be different whether the word is Monarchy or President or Regime it talks about a history of people’s agitation against repressive regime of decades rule or suppression of people through extravagant life style of the sarkar. Another revolution, however an unsuccessful people’s revolution in 1989, “The Tiananmen Square massacre” or “Six Four Incident” as it is called, was a revolution to satisfy the people’s feeling against sarkar authoritarianism and their voice for economic change and democratic reforms. Though the barrel sound of the sarkar become louder than the people’s voice, the message is loud and clear even after decades of the Tiananmen Square massacre, China would not have awaken by a 25 years old youth with a jasmine flower, who was around three years old when the Tiananmen Square massacre took place or by an internet blog “We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness” posted by one of her citizen, while the Arab world are struggling with Jasmine Revolution. The fall of the regime in Indonesia in March 1998, depicts another typical people’s power. Graceful exits are rare in people’s revolutions, sarkar powers do not come simply and easily rather it comes only with the people’s power. However, people’s power does not simply dance over the music of cronies of the regime who are too rich, while the people are getting poorer. The music of the regime and the dance of the people should go hand and hand. However it is observed that it did not. People can determine for themselves that it is neither by monetary power nor by fraud means of the regime which hold together a sarkar. The Orange Revolution as it is named for series of events related with 2004 Ukraine electoral fraud is another event in our people’s revolution class when the Supreme Court could not convince the people’s movement.
The causes of all the people uprising may differ from person to person, from perspective to perspective but the crux of the problem is always related to denial of opportunities and failure to provide humanly life to the people. When the people’s stomach is empty the need of baking a bread of revolution is always the option as the history teaches. Trotsky once remarked that if poverty was the cause of revolutions, there would be revolutions all the time because most people in the world were poor. What is needed to turn a million people's grumbling discontent into a crowd on the streets is a spark to electrify them.
The present 'unprecedented' revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests in almost all the Arab countries since 18 December 2010 speaks in volume about the people’s power to the rest of the countries of the world. Till date, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have been testing revolutions. Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman and Yemen have all seen major protests, and minor incidents have occurred in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Western Sahara.
The people’s uprising in the region have been called the ‘Arab Spring’. The protests sparked from self immolation of a discontented young person towards the sarkar in Tunisia. However it is only the cap of the ice-berg that immersed in the ocean of social corruption. Blooming out revolution after revolutions in the region as it has happened in the past. The Jasmine Revolution which is popularly used in all the present peoples revolutions in the regions as ‘Jasmine wave’. The Tahrir Square in Egypt – the focal point of massive protests brought down 30 years of rule. Presently, whether it is Yemen, Bharain, Djibouti and name any country in the region there must be peoples upraising though it may be in a lesser degree. A chain of unrest is going on in the region as peoples of the states in the region lose their fear of oppressive, autocratic ruler and take to the street demanding regime change for economic opportunity (however the peoples protest was still continuing while writing this article). On the same line Libyan people’s revolution is going to have a tough time expecting another assassination of M.K Gandhi’s idea by the regime as it happened in The Tiananmen Square. The present Arab social climate is going through a rough weather as it is termed as “day of rage”. Whether it is Jasmine, or Tahrir Square or Sana or Tripoli and so on the problem appears to be different but the objective is almost the same - People.
It is observed that, decades of oppressive rule and growing economic inequality as the main factor behind Arab upheaval. Most of the protesters in the region are youth who are educated and unemployed, most of whom have known only one ruler in their lifetime. These young people are in dilemma as the sarkar do not invest much in job creation due to corruption in enormous scale. These young people age below 25 makes greater percentage in the region’s population chart, these young people are lost in their own country due to the failure of the region to provide employment, offer education and skill-sets matching job. These group of population is termed by ILO as “lost generation” They do not want to lose themselves in their own country as a stranger, they want a future- future that makes them one of the region’s child not as slave but a true citizen. However, this lost generation is now out in force on the Arab street hoping to reclaim its future. They are angry over massive corruption- the thief of people&rsquo ;s treasury. The protesters’ deep hurt in these revolutions is about the hopeless future and lack of dignity. The logic of the present revolution is about autocratic rule decades after decades that bring inequality among people in all social level. There is massive corruption and people find themselves unemployed so they have no future. This is the reason the oil field of the world is now become a boiling field (cauldron).
The special feature in the present Arab revolution is not in a barrel that produces bullets and blood but the collective people’s voice against the state tyranny. Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of non-violence has a greater share though not in its fullness, as it is found out that 50% of the non-violence movements succeeded while only 25% is the share of violence means. In fact Gene Sharp- “The Politics of Nonviolent Action” found out one hundred ninety eight methods of non-violence on the study of Gandhi’s theory. However, it is not assured that every time it works. History reminds us, it did not worked in Hungary (1956), in Czechoslovakia (1968), in Tiananmen Square (1989) but it also did work in European Revolution during 1986 that pulled down dictatorship after dictatorship through masses of people’s movement as it is working in the recent Arab revolution. To give a justified answer to these two social ingredients - violent and non- violent revolution is not a simple task and even I do not wish to cook that recipe but interestingly is, in every revolution the voice of people is loud and clear, and that do not simply die down unless the regime criminate anti-people affairs.
While all these people’s upraising penetrate to our kitchen even our study table is not spared, do we need to do a guess work by opening our Indian political text book at least for cursory reading? Or let the Tahrir Square or Jasmine flower come in to our study table and let it simmer down. The answer is probably neutral because we have century old British political professor in our political science class who has been teaching ins and outs on the topic ‘divide and rule’. However, with endless tsunami of scam after scam and rampant corruption in all sarkar affairs do we need a social and political earthquake? Is it possible in a democratic state? Or does it happen only in a kleptocartic state? If it is legal (of course not) to robe and use extravagantly the people’s resources by a few who runs the sarkar than it becomes justified for the masses to revolt against the denial of their rights. Once it is said by people’s supporter that to trickledown revolution, the answer lies not in the excesses of capitalism or communism. But could well spring from our subaltern depths. Is it not a wake up call when sarkar is cornered by Maoist, failure in dialogue with people’s group from Kashmir to North East states? The present scam-ridden situation in a scale of cores of rupees, black money in the Swiss bank, at a time when people’s representatives so called MINISTER are in the black market for sale, when schemes for the people’s stomach turns to world expensive building for few who runs the sarkar. No wonder these few, who runs the sarkar, act like sarkar, talk like sarkar, eat like sarkar. But the masses of people are not blind and by the time the people get sick of this, the sarkar will sink in the ocean of corruption never to rise again.
With central’s secret policy of divide and rule, Nagaland receives numbers of people oriented schemes after schemes but do you see any changes inside the aluminum pot of the poor Naga villager’s kitchen? Masses of poor hard educated are unable to get employment because they cannot compete in the Job auction, there is hardly any competitive examination rather the trend is changed to a game of auction due to rampant corruption in all levels of affairs of the sarkar. As youth population, literacy rate and the number of the educated unemployed people increase with massive corruption in the sarkar. At a time when few who runs the sarkar enjoy all at the expense of the poor people’s rice pot, do you think such wave of social culture will take us towards a Revolution? No, my Christian citizen, even Noah’s people in the Bible did not think so when told about a revolution not by people' movement but by movement of water at a time the word ‘rain’ was not conceptualized literally in minds of the people but it did happen - A Revolution. At this time let me not talk about revolutions beyond borders but our people’s revolution in the recent past though it happened in very lesser degree. By asking a question, on what ground most non-local business people leave Mokokchung in 2007? Is it not a kind of revolution by the people of Mokokchung? Was it a religious upraising? No, Nagaland is a Christian state, we are not RSS, if our memory don’t fail us so far not a single religious atrocity has taken place in the state ever since 1872. Was it a game between political parties which is being usually played in Delhi? Definitely none of these. It was just a HUNGRY (not angry) mood of the people mostly the youth. HUNGRY for their future which remained in the grip by these small groups. If you want to feel a little of this clear air walk on the street of Mokokchung and enter a shop you will definitely inhale it. Think again about 2003 Mokokchung incident, on those days people did the best home work and the teacher said ‘well done’. It was not in fact a political game as all will agree or it was not even directed towards any particular group however it happened to be one of the insurgent groups. This insurgent group in fact, in the greater level is a patriotic people’s group but on the contrary with rampant exhortation they deprived the very rights of the people despite providing their needs, albeit under the mercy of the barrel, they attacked and robbed the people’s rights. When people’s resentment increase it brings an end to any tyranny. This is our people’s revolution. It is the result of an outburst of the people’s anger against imprisonment of people’s rights through unjustified action.
No matter whether it is in Tunisia or Libya, whether it is Yellow or Jasmine, whether it is Tahrir Square or Pearl Square, whether it is Sana or Tripoli, revolution can happen to any people, anytime and anywhere, as long as any tyranny blurred the people’s future by corruption and creating economic disparity and unemployment. Though the present people upraising in Arab region lost its momentum as people of Libya opting for a violent way of revolution however violent revolution also does work. The next may be else where in the world whether the sarkar is run by monarch, generals or kleptocartic elected officials or bureaucrats or even at homes as it has been taking place in the house of corrupted individuals. It is not the policies based on individualistic ambition that rule but by the essence base on universal moral principle.
The oppressive rule and economic disparity among people is the main factor behind the recent Arab revolution. If any regime/individual fall on the Arab’s line, it is possible even in a democratic world as it did happen recently in Portugal - a massive demonstration by tens of thousand of young graduates. Revolution can be taken place in any levels, any degree and any forms. And it can be taken place anywhere and to any person who play as sarkar- regime? An individual home may turn to another Egypt no matter even if you could convert it into Libya through mercenaries. No matter whether non-violent or violent revolution, it is the voice of the people’s power. By then your court yard will turn into another Tahrir Square and even if you turn it to a Tiananmen Square people will not be worried for that. And finally your friend will be your adversary and they will freeze your assets which will finally go to the people’s hand. What do you expect to profit from corruption? Venom with special blend of food flavor, I guess.
The present people’s revolution wave in most of the entire Arab world is not a new trend in history. It was and will be, provided that sarkar continues to neglect the people’s aspiration. As long as sarkar overlook the people’s will, revolution will be the only option. The past is a clear reminder - the 1848 European Revolutions, often called as “Spring of Nations”, or “Year of Revolution” or “Springtime of the Peoples” whatever name it may be, it talks about people’s movement against regimes that keeps people in the periphery in the sarkar agenda. Often the economic imbalance resulting to unemployment of the masses and when the poor stomach is deprived by corruption or by the hands of the regime, a revolution is imminent and this is what exactly happened in European Revolution.
The books on people’s revolutions in the recent past are lying in our shelf. Some are yet to finish for the lessons to be learned. The Iranian Revolution of 1979- “The Islamic Revolution” or “1979 Revolution” as it is named, are hissing in our ears about the overthrow of monarchy by the people who experience economic crises. On the other hand the regime or the sarkar is seen by the people as oppressive, brutal, corrupt, and extravagant. The Philippine Revolution of 1986 or popularly known as “The People Power Revolution” or “Yellow Revolution” lies in the same line with any other revolution, the vocabulary may be different whether the word is Monarchy or President or Regime it talks about a history of people’s agitation against repressive regime of decades rule or suppression of people through extravagant life style of the sarkar. Another revolution, however an unsuccessful people’s revolution in 1989, “The Tiananmen Square massacre” or “Six Four Incident” as it is called, was a revolution to satisfy the people’s feeling against sarkar authoritarianism and their voice for economic change and democratic reforms. Though the barrel sound of the sarkar become louder than the people’s voice, the message is loud and clear even after decades of the Tiananmen Square massacre, China would not have awaken by a 25 years old youth with a jasmine flower, who was around three years old when the Tiananmen Square massacre took place or by an internet blog “We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness” posted by one of her citizen, while the Arab world are struggling with Jasmine Revolution. The fall of the regime in Indonesia in March 1998, depicts another typical people’s power. Graceful exits are rare in people’s revolutions, sarkar powers do not come simply and easily rather it comes only with the people’s power. However, people’s power does not simply dance over the music of cronies of the regime who are too rich, while the people are getting poorer. The music of the regime and the dance of the people should go hand and hand. However it is observed that it did not. People can determine for themselves that it is neither by monetary power nor by fraud means of the regime which hold together a sarkar. The Orange Revolution as it is named for series of events related with 2004 Ukraine electoral fraud is another event in our people’s revolution class when the Supreme Court could not convince the people’s movement.
The causes of all the people uprising may differ from person to person, from perspective to perspective but the crux of the problem is always related to denial of opportunities and failure to provide humanly life to the people. When the people’s stomach is empty the need of baking a bread of revolution is always the option as the history teaches. Trotsky once remarked that if poverty was the cause of revolutions, there would be revolutions all the time because most people in the world were poor. What is needed to turn a million people's grumbling discontent into a crowd on the streets is a spark to electrify them.
The present 'unprecedented' revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests in almost all the Arab countries since 18 December 2010 speaks in volume about the people’s power to the rest of the countries of the world. Till date, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have been testing revolutions. Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman and Yemen have all seen major protests, and minor incidents have occurred in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Western Sahara.
The people’s uprising in the region have been called the ‘Arab Spring’. The protests sparked from self immolation of a discontented young person towards the sarkar in Tunisia. However it is only the cap of the ice-berg that immersed in the ocean of social corruption. Blooming out revolution after revolutions in the region as it has happened in the past. The Jasmine Revolution which is popularly used in all the present peoples revolutions in the regions as ‘Jasmine wave’. The Tahrir Square in Egypt – the focal point of massive protests brought down 30 years of rule. Presently, whether it is Yemen, Bharain, Djibouti and name any country in the region there must be peoples upraising though it may be in a lesser degree. A chain of unrest is going on in the region as peoples of the states in the region lose their fear of oppressive, autocratic ruler and take to the street demanding regime change for economic opportunity (however the peoples protest was still continuing while writing this article). On the same line Libyan people’s revolution is going to have a tough time expecting another assassination of M.K Gandhi’s idea by the regime as it happened in The Tiananmen Square. The present Arab social climate is going through a rough weather as it is termed as “day of rage”. Whether it is Jasmine, or Tahrir Square or Sana or Tripoli and so on the problem appears to be different but the objective is almost the same - People.
It is observed that, decades of oppressive rule and growing economic inequality as the main factor behind Arab upheaval. Most of the protesters in the region are youth who are educated and unemployed, most of whom have known only one ruler in their lifetime. These young people are in dilemma as the sarkar do not invest much in job creation due to corruption in enormous scale. These young people age below 25 makes greater percentage in the region’s population chart, these young people are lost in their own country due to the failure of the region to provide employment, offer education and skill-sets matching job. These group of population is termed by ILO as “lost generation” They do not want to lose themselves in their own country as a stranger, they want a future- future that makes them one of the region’s child not as slave but a true citizen. However, this lost generation is now out in force on the Arab street hoping to reclaim its future. They are angry over massive corruption- the thief of people&rsquo ;s treasury. The protesters’ deep hurt in these revolutions is about the hopeless future and lack of dignity. The logic of the present revolution is about autocratic rule decades after decades that bring inequality among people in all social level. There is massive corruption and people find themselves unemployed so they have no future. This is the reason the oil field of the world is now become a boiling field (cauldron).
The special feature in the present Arab revolution is not in a barrel that produces bullets and blood but the collective people’s voice against the state tyranny. Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of non-violence has a greater share though not in its fullness, as it is found out that 50% of the non-violence movements succeeded while only 25% is the share of violence means. In fact Gene Sharp- “The Politics of Nonviolent Action” found out one hundred ninety eight methods of non-violence on the study of Gandhi’s theory. However, it is not assured that every time it works. History reminds us, it did not worked in Hungary (1956), in Czechoslovakia (1968), in Tiananmen Square (1989) but it also did work in European Revolution during 1986 that pulled down dictatorship after dictatorship through masses of people’s movement as it is working in the recent Arab revolution. To give a justified answer to these two social ingredients - violent and non- violent revolution is not a simple task and even I do not wish to cook that recipe but interestingly is, in every revolution the voice of people is loud and clear, and that do not simply die down unless the regime criminate anti-people affairs.
While all these people’s upraising penetrate to our kitchen even our study table is not spared, do we need to do a guess work by opening our Indian political text book at least for cursory reading? Or let the Tahrir Square or Jasmine flower come in to our study table and let it simmer down. The answer is probably neutral because we have century old British political professor in our political science class who has been teaching ins and outs on the topic ‘divide and rule’. However, with endless tsunami of scam after scam and rampant corruption in all sarkar affairs do we need a social and political earthquake? Is it possible in a democratic state? Or does it happen only in a kleptocartic state? If it is legal (of course not) to robe and use extravagantly the people’s resources by a few who runs the sarkar than it becomes justified for the masses to revolt against the denial of their rights. Once it is said by people’s supporter that to trickledown revolution, the answer lies not in the excesses of capitalism or communism. But could well spring from our subaltern depths. Is it not a wake up call when sarkar is cornered by Maoist, failure in dialogue with people’s group from Kashmir to North East states? The present scam-ridden situation in a scale of cores of rupees, black money in the Swiss bank, at a time when people’s representatives so called MINISTER are in the black market for sale, when schemes for the people’s stomach turns to world expensive building for few who runs the sarkar. No wonder these few, who runs the sarkar, act like sarkar, talk like sarkar, eat like sarkar. But the masses of people are not blind and by the time the people get sick of this, the sarkar will sink in the ocean of corruption never to rise again.
With central’s secret policy of divide and rule, Nagaland receives numbers of people oriented schemes after schemes but do you see any changes inside the aluminum pot of the poor Naga villager’s kitchen? Masses of poor hard educated are unable to get employment because they cannot compete in the Job auction, there is hardly any competitive examination rather the trend is changed to a game of auction due to rampant corruption in all levels of affairs of the sarkar. As youth population, literacy rate and the number of the educated unemployed people increase with massive corruption in the sarkar. At a time when few who runs the sarkar enjoy all at the expense of the poor people’s rice pot, do you think such wave of social culture will take us towards a Revolution? No, my Christian citizen, even Noah’s people in the Bible did not think so when told about a revolution not by people' movement but by movement of water at a time the word ‘rain’ was not conceptualized literally in minds of the people but it did happen - A Revolution. At this time let me not talk about revolutions beyond borders but our people’s revolution in the recent past though it happened in very lesser degree. By asking a question, on what ground most non-local business people leave Mokokchung in 2007? Is it not a kind of revolution by the people of Mokokchung? Was it a religious upraising? No, Nagaland is a Christian state, we are not RSS, if our memory don’t fail us so far not a single religious atrocity has taken place in the state ever since 1872. Was it a game between political parties which is being usually played in Delhi? Definitely none of these. It was just a HUNGRY (not angry) mood of the people mostly the youth. HUNGRY for their future which remained in the grip by these small groups. If you want to feel a little of this clear air walk on the street of Mokokchung and enter a shop you will definitely inhale it. Think again about 2003 Mokokchung incident, on those days people did the best home work and the teacher said ‘well done’. It was not in fact a political game as all will agree or it was not even directed towards any particular group however it happened to be one of the insurgent groups. This insurgent group in fact, in the greater level is a patriotic people’s group but on the contrary with rampant exhortation they deprived the very rights of the people despite providing their needs, albeit under the mercy of the barrel, they attacked and robbed the people’s rights. When people’s resentment increase it brings an end to any tyranny. This is our people’s revolution. It is the result of an outburst of the people’s anger against imprisonment of people’s rights through unjustified action.
No matter whether it is in Tunisia or Libya, whether it is Yellow or Jasmine, whether it is Tahrir Square or Pearl Square, whether it is Sana or Tripoli, revolution can happen to any people, anytime and anywhere, as long as any tyranny blurred the people’s future by corruption and creating economic disparity and unemployment. Though the present people upraising in Arab region lost its momentum as people of Libya opting for a violent way of revolution however violent revolution also does work. The next may be else where in the world whether the sarkar is run by monarch, generals or kleptocartic elected officials or bureaucrats or even at homes as it has been taking place in the house of corrupted individuals. It is not the policies based on individualistic ambition that rule but by the essence base on universal moral principle.
The oppressive rule and economic disparity among people is the main factor behind the recent Arab revolution. If any regime/individual fall on the Arab’s line, it is possible even in a democratic world as it did happen recently in Portugal - a massive demonstration by tens of thousand of young graduates. Revolution can be taken place in any levels, any degree and any forms. And it can be taken place anywhere and to any person who play as sarkar- regime? An individual home may turn to another Egypt no matter even if you could convert it into Libya through mercenaries. No matter whether non-violent or violent revolution, it is the voice of the people’s power. By then your court yard will turn into another Tahrir Square and even if you turn it to a Tiananmen Square people will not be worried for that. And finally your friend will be your adversary and they will freeze your assets which will finally go to the people’s hand. What do you expect to profit from corruption? Venom with special blend of food flavor, I guess.
