The CPD Blog is intended to stimulate dialog among scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals from around the world in the public diplomacy sphere. The opinions represented here are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.
MUMBAI -- Following the attacks here two weeks ago, much of the coverage on local media looks familiar: red banner stripes and logos with such phrases as "26/11 Fight against Terrorism". But it is not quite the same as US networks' "War on Terror".
There are "Indians of the Year", mini-package profiles of the soldiers and others who died during the fighting that occurred the week before last just down the street from my hotel, and live coverage of vigils and demonstrations. Also, the attack on Mumbai has been framed as attack on modernity. So far, again, it looks quite familiar.
But there is something very, very different about the coverage: the entire tone is different.
The attack is also being framed explicitly as an attack on human rights. This means instead of fighting terrorism, security and operations against the attackers are framed as measures to uphold human rights.
And instead of asking everyone to support the government, everyone is asked for their suggestions and their opinions, through email, chat rooms and other media - venues where different journalism organizations are themselves competing to solicit public input.
Not that there isn't also quite a bit of anger, much of it aimed at Pakistan. "How long can Pak deny role?" reads one recurring graphic. "Pak lies exposed,” reads another.
But it feels much different from 9/11. It is almost as if we are about to see a brand new movement, perhaps a social network, centered not around terrorism but around human rights. And once you start from that premise, much changes.
Anupam Jain on December 17, 2008 @ 1:55 pm The people of Mumbai have seen many attacks by terrorists in their city and they have long been hailed as a resilient clan that gets to business as usual in surprisingly short times. This time however, the attacks have been on the economically better off segment of the society that is both better educated and organized. This is an important distinction from the past events where the often poor victims had no voice and were satiated by the relief grants announced by the government soon after the incidents.
The rich people do not trust the local as well as national politicians who have failed to deliver on their promises. The Mumbai attack is part of a series of bomb blasts that took place in the past one year in the country, with an incident being reported almost every month in different cities. The public outcry in Mumbai is a crescendo that has been building for quite some time against the terrorists and against the failures of the government to protect them. With resourceful people being affected and now being behind the protests, it will be difficult for the government to ignore them or to suppress them.
These voices are here to stay, and are going to increasingly get more organized into citizen groups that will demand more accountability from the government. India won its independence from the British not by violent protests and wars, but through a peace movement of civilians led by Mahatma Gandhi. Since that time, India is struggling for independence from its own internal politics that led to the partition of the country into India and Pakistan, and till date is the sole accountable factor for lack of progress as there should have been. I hope that this new civilian movement of "human rights violation" is able to unite the country once again to protect itself from the greed of terrorists and politicians.
akshay on January 19, 2009 @ 7:02 am I think India government (especially, Sonia govt.) does not have the political or international acumen to deal with this scenario. India is a soft nation and so can be easily pushed around. Look at the terror attacks one after the another. The latest example is Mumabi. The younger generation of our country is either crazy for the film stars and the popular movie personalities, spend their time playing <a >poker cards</a> or busy in worshiping the game called cricket...huh..!
