Not what you’d expect the farmers would bring when you ask for a bribe. About forty slithering snakes of various sizes and species on the floor, among which about 4 are cobras, sent the officials of an Uttar Pradesh tax office scurrying around and onto the tables. Some of the more persuasive ones among the snakes climbed up the chairs and tables, inducing more activity in the office, a rarity these days. The two farmers had been asking for tax records on their land, but the officials had been withholding those for weeks and demanding bribes. Nobody died or got injured, the snakes have been captured and the hunt is on for the farmer duo. No reports on whether there would be a hunt for the officials asking for bribes.
Granted, it could’ve been serious. Could’ve involved injury, or even death.
But that’s what you get when there’s just no risk-free way of getting justice. Fast? There have been plenty of fasts this year, some got noticed, some didn’t, and almost all ended without any significant results. There has been a lot of placard waving and sit-ins. Plenty of cases are pending in the courts of different states. The powerless has to pull some tricks to get the attention of more people, to get some more to rally for their cause. And in some cases they would want to get back at those who make them suffer. The people at the bottom of the power hierarchy will use whatever they’ve got. And in this case, one of the farmers being a snake-charmer, it’s 3 bags full of snakes.
The hypocritical standards that the mainstream media set will astonish you at times. The drone attack victims are written off as collateral damage. The villagers killed in the Green Hunt hardly motivates anyone in the mainstream to call for scrapping the GH altogether. But one risky move of the oppressed and the whole vast talking machine called the media jumps on them, never mind how they are pushed at the end of their tether by hunger, physical exhaustion, lack of dignity and what not. The bulk of the mainstream discussion then focuses on how irresponsible they have been. This one-sided criticism helps portray those people as irrational brutes, which in turn helps those who oppress them.
Does this mean we are not allowed to criticize the protest methods and demands? Of course not. But if we wish to look at the whole picture, the factors that played a crucially determining role in causing the event of the protest, the mainstream opinion discourse will not be of great assistance.
Time to check out some more unique protest styles. Yep, they grab attention and get the media talking about them and yep, that spreads the word.
Kiss-in of Chile: hundreds of students in Chile protesting huge education costs brought about by the privatized education system and demanding free and quality education for all gathered up in the dusk and kissed full on the lips.
Zombie walk of Chile: students part of the above-mentioned protests danced to the tune of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ taking over the Central Square dressed up as zombies.
Milk hose protest of Europe: farmers of Europe shot milk through high-powered hoses at the European Parliament in Brussels, protesting against the low price of milk that the farmers were getting. This protest was termed ’1000 tractors to Brussels. Some sprayed milk onto the policemen there in riot gear direct from cow udders, and one cow reportedly got scared in the mayhem and chased an office worker down the street.
SlutWalk: In protest against a Canadian cop’s comment that if women wished to avoid rape, they should not dress like ‘whores’, women from various parts of the world poured onto the street with little or no clothes on, challenging the stifling control of the patriarchal society over women’s bodies. The protest was called ‘SlutWalk’ by the protesters in retaliation to the patriarchal perception of ‘bad’ women.
Naked protest of Manipur, India: protesting against the routine rape and murder by the Indian army in Manipur, hundreds of women of Manipur shed their clothes and marched with the banner ‘Indian Army, Rape Us’. The protests were triggered by the rape and murder of Manorama, a woman of Manipur.
Flamenco Dance of Spain: this began with 20 people of Flo6x8, an activist group, playing and dancing to Flamenco music in the lobby of Santander Bank in protest against crony capitalist policies of banks. Flamenco performing groups turned up after that in various banks protesting against heavy loan interests that Spaniards find deathly hard to bear.
And there are many, many more, such as animal rights campaigners pouring donated blood on fur coats, activists painting themselves red and lying on the streets with placards ‘Banks bled me to death’, protester dumping buckets of human poo in a bank and so on. In Russia when people were not allowed to gather in protest against elections, protesters put dolls with little placards that had slogans.
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