Power of #

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Power of #

Sunday, 21 October 2018 | SANGEETA YADAV

Power of #

From the #Lahukalagaan campaign that compelled the Government to scrap tax on sanitary napkins, to #MeToo which throws light on the bigger issue of sexual harassment, the power of Hashtag is bringing big revolutions worldwide on controversial issues that are often brushed under the carpet. SANGEETA YADAV speaks to experts on Hashtag activism and how it is changing mores in the fight for justice

From actors, politicians and journalists, to MNC employees and Government organisations, people from all walks of life are using the power of Hashtag to fight for justice and make an impact. Be it supporting a cause or a movement that people are advocating through social media to creating awareness at large, hashtag activism is empowering every individual to start a movement for change.

Once denoted as a symbol of pound or an object to play tic-tac-toe has now become a mouthpiece bringing revolution worldwide with campaigns like #MeToo which is gaining momentum in India.

“The power of Hashtag is the power to empower, unite and crusade. It is the power to unmask, shame and destroy the perpetrators. It is good to see that the hashtag is empowering so many to do what they may not have done before. Hashtags have evolved the way protests and social interactions have. A lot of it has become reactionary posturing and armchair activism. One Tweet reaches millions. Every re-tweet reaches more millions. It is like instant gratification. There is openness, democracy and dialogues free of fear,” Dr Sandeep Goyal, former Chairman of Dentsu India and ex-Group CEO of Zee Telefilm, explains.

Hashtag activism has become a great way to bring a social change in today’s time. To do that, one doesn’t necessarily need to be an activist. “Hashtag activism is a powerful tool in neo-liberal times. In an age of de-ideologisation and de-politicisation, the possibility of mass collective action is minimal. Every discourse works around identities and is often issue-based. Hashtag activism works effectively in this context where individuals empower themselves through social media and connect with others. We are connected globally and that is one of the reasons why hashtags have emerged as a major tool for social change. It has been initiating change in a big way, especially in the context of issues that relate to the marginalised, including women. Hashtag activism helps victims connect and help build an atmosphere of empathy and sharing. In the age of individualism, it helps build a sense of a community,” says Dr Swapna Gopinath, associate Professor of English, SN College, University of Kerala and postdoctoral fellow, School of Media and Cultural Studies at the Tata Institute Of Social Sciences.

The #MeToo campaign, which has spread like wildfire in India, has brought many people into the scanner, including Nana Patekar, MJ Akbar, Vikas Behl, Alok Nath, KR Sreenivas, Gautam Adhikari and many others. The movement, which was started in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke, went viral in October 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted it to encourage women who have been sexually harassed and/or assaulted to step forward and reply to her Tweet. This got over 12 million posts within just 24 hours reflecting the magnitude of the problem.

The movement reached Bollywood when Chitrangadha Singh accused the director of Babumoshai Bandookbaaz Kushan Nandy last year of insisting that she do many retakes for an intimate scene with Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Swara Bhaskar came out and revealed the manner in which she was asked for sexual favours in exchange for a film role and how she lost a few because she wouldn’t give in. She even talked about the lack of safety on film sets where women often experience eve-teasing and catcalling.

Keeping the identity of the culprit secret, Bhaskar shared her story of how she was harassed by a film director during her early days as an actor. She said: “During a 56-day outdoor shoot at a remote location when I was still fairly new, the director harassed me with texts and dinner invites. He stalked me during the day and called me through the night. I was asked to go to his hotel room on the pretext of discussing a scene and would find him drinking. During the first week itself, he started talking about love and sex, and one night, he arrived in my room, drunk and asking to be hugged. It was scary! I was young and alone. I would switch off the lights after packing up and remove my makeup in the dark, so he would think I was asleep and stop calling me. I finally confided in the executive producer and made sure that I was escorted everywhere.”

But the first mega viral campaign was launched when Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of misbehaving with her during the shoot of a special song in Horn OK Please in 2008. She said he allegedly grabbed her by the arm, pushed her around, asked the choreographers to move aside and taught her how to dance and even wanted to do an intimate sequence with her, although the contract clearly stated it was a “solo” dance sequence. Dutta claimed that the actor made her uncomfortable to an extent that she eventually had to opt out of the song and is still dealing with the trauma that experience has caused her.

Queen’s director Vikas Bahl was accused of sexual harassment by a former employee of Phantom Films for an incident that took place in 2015 in Goa. Bahl’s partners Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane came out in support of the allegations, with Kashyap dissolving the production house. Post this, actor Kangana Ranaut also alleged that Bahl used to ‘bury his face in her neck’ and ‘hold her really tight’. Sandhya Mridul and many other actors came out and revealed that Alok Nath would get drunk on the set and harass them.

With so many cases coming up from the entertainment world, Cine & TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) has set-up a high-powered committee to look into all sexual harassment complaints. “Various steps are being taken to address this menace, including but not limited to spreading awareness and encouraging our members to not suffer in silence. Nationally, we contribute billions to Government’s coffers but are yet to be even recognised as an industry. We don’t know which Ministry to approach to solve our problems — I&B Ministry, Labour Ministry or the Culture Ministry? We have approached the Central  Government for formulating a separate Act for the Entertainment and Media Sector which lays down the working conditions and rights of workers in films, television, sports-broadcasting, digital media, live-performances and the news sector,” Sushant Singh, General Secretary, CINTAA, says.

Not just Bollywood, even politicians and media professionals have come under the radar of #MeToo. Former Editor and Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar, who was accused by 17 women journalists of sex harassment, had to resign. He is said to have hired 97 lawyers to fight a defamation case against Priya Ramani, the first person who complained against him, and many others saying they have “intentionally put forward malicious, fabricated and salacious” allegations to harm his goodwill and reputation.

The issues that are raised with hashtags are creating ripples offline too with big debates and dialogues among academicians and decision makers. One of the most important questions that has become the talk of the town is why are women coming out after so many years in reporting sexual harassment? Why didn’t they do it before?

“It is easy to blame the victim and ask why after so many years? But you need to understand that it is not easy for any woman to fight against a powerful person. The police officials are hesitant to file a complaint and if they do that, the court procedure is so long that it takes years. Sometimes advocates, too, leave the case in between. Take the case of Tanushree Dutta who despite having proof and even after filing an FIR, was harassed and faced threats. There is this fear of losing your job, not getting good work, the years-long grind of the court trial, financial obligations and sometimes absence of family and societal support. You get into high depression.

“Even companies don’t take any concrete steps to deal with the matter, instead, ask the accused to resign. A #MeToo campaign helps. After making the revelations, the onus is on the women to prove innocence. We need a corrective society which accepts the progressive change towards women-related issues, a proper security system and a mechanism to deal with such issues at the grassroots level,” criminal psychologist and advocate Anuja Kapur, says, adding that #MeToo should not be restricted to the workplace.

On the flip side, there are people who are misusing the immense power of Hashtag to get media attention. “It is good that Hashtag activism empowers people and helps them bring a lot of errant individuals to book. But like all power, unbridled and absolute power is dangerous and that is worrisome. The Hashtag has no control mechanisms and some innocent men are being victimised with no avenue for defence. It’s been misused to settling old scores through exaggerated accounts of what may or may not have happened,” Goyal says.

Agrees Swati Gautam, founder & CEO, NecessitySwatiGautam: “Its downside being that malicious activity is difficult to detect and conversations can degenerate to tangential, vulgar, politically motivated levels that may then dilute the very cause being advocated. We need a realistic framework of action and clear norms. The National Commission for Women shall hopefully get some teeth, if not a whole denture, to start with; if the SC/ST Commission can have them then why is the women’s commission toothless till now? Each and every allegation of sexual harassment should be dealt with on its inherent merit.”

Hashtag activism when combined with online petitions and clicks of approval platforms like Change.org, complements the cause in many ways. “Successful campaigns on Change.org are not run in isolation. Supporters end up building strong connections through petitions they sign, mailing decision makers, taking part in tweet-a-thons consolidated with hashtags, showing up for protests. Hashtags can exist on their own but they become more potent when they exist in the context of an online petition or an online campaign on change.org. Hashtags are easy to track online with a simple Google search. In the online campaign space, Hashtags help us keep score of the number of mentions of a campaign,” she adds.

For example, in July 2018 the #LightUpDelhi campaign on Change.org was successful in making the Government commit to installing street lamps to light up dark spots outside metro stations. It was started by Delhi-based architect Bhavya Singh after she survived a harrowing stalking incident. The campaign’s catchy Hashtag was instrumental in garnering the 33,034 signatures that propelled it to a victory. “In fact, when Bhavya went to meet the Decision Maker Satyendra Jain, the PWD Minister, for the first time to discuss her campaign, she was surprised when he said he had been following the campaign, and even named the hashtag,” Nida Hasan, Associate Country Director, Change.org India, explains.

Hashtags and online petitions are turning out to be very impactful for many other social campaigns. Signing an online petition and demonstrating support for causes on social networks through hashtags is a bit different from how previous generations engaged in movement building. But not doing what previous generations have done doesn’t mean this generation is slacking. “It’s a different type of activism and it’s highly effective. For many people, hashtags make them get out of their armchairs and take action. #NotInMyName saw a lot of common citizens making their way to public meetings and rallies and rubbing shoulders with seasoned activists,” Hasan adds.

Hashtag activism can be dismissed as useless outrage if there is no meaningful action or social change that comes out of it. “One of the newest campaigns to start on Change.org is hashtagged #HighwayToiletsHerWay. The campaign is asking the Government to invest in clean and safe toilets for women on a particular stretch of national highway 48 in Karnataka. If thousands of women use the hashtag to rage about their appalling experiences but the collective expression itself doesn't exert pressure on the Government to take action, the hashtag will become an example of useless outrage,” Hasan opines.

Dr Gopinath feels that though hashtags activism has been addressing issues faced by the upper and middle class, while the lower sections of society are not find their voices through this mode. “Hashtags are effective when addressing issues faced by the upper and middle-class population and others who find themselves targets of exploitation and oppression within these classes. This gives courage and confidence to a lot of women to speak out against men who are powerful and are well known in India and address similar issues women face on a day-to-day basis. A sense of solidarity is emerging in a bigger way among women, which is a welcome change. But the lower sections in society, be it class or caste, don’t really find their voices through hashtags, at least in the Indian context,” Dr Gopinath asserts.

Making a difference

#Metoo: The #MeToo campaign was first started in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke, went viral in October 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted it to encourage women who have been sexually harassed and/or assaulted to step forward and reply to her tweet. This got over 12 million posts within just 24 hours reflecting the magnitude of the problem. The movement which has now come to India has brought many popular faces into the scanner including Nana Patekar, MJ Akbar, Vikas Behl, Alok Nath, KR Sreenivas, Gautam Adhikari and many others. Many organisations are now setting up the vishakha guidelines which were restricted to the papers and implement strict norms to curb the issue.

#LahuKaLagaan: Started in April 2017 by SheSays, a women's rights organisation, the campaign #LahuKaLagaan urged people to Tweet to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley using the Hashtag to make sanitary napkins tax-free. This campaign translated from an online hashtag into a PIL filed before the Bombay High Court. Sanitary napkins were taxed at 12%, counting it among ‘luxury items'. Celebrities like Aditi Rao Hydari, Swara Bhaskar, Sorabh Pant, Vishal Dadlani, Shenaz Treasury, Cyrus Broacha, Mallika Dua and many others supported the cause. In July, 2018, the Government scrapped the tax giving sanitary pads a 100 per cent exemption.

#AintNoCindrella: On August 4, 2017, Varnika Kundu was driving back home after midnight when she was chased and almost kidnapped by Vikas Barala, son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala, and his friend Ashish Kumar, in Chandigarh. Though the accused were arrested after a complaint by Varnika and her father, they were later released on bail. She narrated the incident on Facebook which got a shocking reaction from area vice-president of BJP Ramveer Bhatti. He commented: “The girl should not have gone out at 12 in the night. Why was she driving so late in the night? Parents must take care of their children. They shouldn't allow them to roam at night. Children should come home on time, why stay out at night?”

Shocked by his feedback, actress and former MP Divya Spandana created #AintNoCinderella in an effort to remind the world that the fault is not of women and today's society isn't some 17th-century fairytale where women should be held to a strict midnight curfew. Women from all walks of life started posting pictures of themselves out after midnight under the hashtag #AintNoCinderella in support of Varnika Kundu. This campaign united people who believe in certain values and took a stand up for the right.

#NotInMyName: The campaign 'Not in my name' began with a Facebook post by filmmaker Saba Dewan who urged people to voice against the lynching of Muslims and Dalits. The lynching of a 16-year-old boy Junaid triggered citizens, especially netizens, to join the silent rally which witnessed participation from people across India. The day after the pan-India protests, PM Narendra Modi finally broke his silence and tweeted saying 'no person in this nation has the right to take the law in his or her own hands.'

#BringBackOurGirls: After Boko Haram militants kidnapped hundreds of girls from a Nigerian boarding school on April 15, 2014, an international campaign was raised to pressure the Nigerian Government to “Bring Back Our Girls”. In early May, nearly 5 lakh Tweets had been sent out with the tag. Its origins have been traced back to Nigerian lawyer Ibrahim Abdullahi, who first tweeted it on April 23, 2014.

The Hashtag itself was so well-known and inspiring that everyone from Michelle Obama to Malala Yousafzai participated in the campaign. Global attention and sympathy spurred the US and other international Governments to send aid to Nigeria in an effort to help with negotiations. Unfortunately, to this day, 230 of the girls are still separated from their families.

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