Verbal interactions like talk, anger, laughter, lectures were all we had until Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 put the final touch to telephone invention where you don?t see the caller. Suddenly in 1896 Guglielmo Marconi fine-tuned the wireless public radio invention; several scientists had worked on it before him, including JC Bose. This was the birth of another medium where you don?t wait for a response. You speak, and people listen. Of course, means of silent communication had existed earlier like painting, literature and photography invented by Joseph Nic?phore Ni?pce in 1826. With silent movies, comics like Charlie Chaplain and Buster Keaton endeared themselves while provocatively passing on powerful messages. Television was the next gigantic invention. Here you too can be an actor just by being a spectator.
After all this came the widespread public use of the Internet since 1991. By itself it?s a flat, passive agent but it can ignite instant, easy global communication for anybody. You can access millions of layers of information, entertainment and do multiple activities here. Micro-blogging site Twitter revealed that 9.66 million tweets were sent within 24 hours for the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony. Realising this gigantic strength, those who want to convey a global message know they have to use communication techniques to provoke with both language and visuals.
Russia: That?s exactly what Pussy Riot did. Who?s Pussy Riot? A Russian Punk collective of 10 determined women singers formed in September last year. Said Pussy Rioter Serafima to Vice publication, “We realised that this country needs a militant, punk-feminist, street band that will rip through Moscow’s streets and squares, mobilise public energy against the evil crooks of the Putinist junta and enrich the Russian cultural and political opposition.? On February 21, 2012, Pussy Riot suddenly took to the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral and performed a mock prayer-song wearing kaleidoscope Punk hairstyle and clothes, begging Virgin Mary to chase Putin out of power. Within 30 seconds they were removed by security guards and thrown into jail, denied bail, their lawyers say they’ve been denied food and sleep. Their trial has started this week. The video footage of this Church episode was put up on the Internet and got them a great deal of support. Tens of thousands of Russians have signed an online petition demanding their release. Amnesty International has taken up the Pussy Riot cause, as have famous musicians like Sting, Peter Gabriel and Anthony Kiedis, among others. As overheard on CNN?s Christian Amanpour TV show, if Pussy Riot was called Feminist Riot, they may not have received this kind of impact. Pussy Rioter Kot said to Vice, “When cops and FSB agents interrogate us and ask, ‘What the hell do these English letters on your banner stand for?’ we usually say something like ?pussycat rebellion.? But, of course that’s a brutal lie. In Russia you should never tell the truth to a cop or to any agent of the Putinist regime.”
France: If the 1968 Revolution in France had Internet support, imagine the impact that would have had. Philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, author of The Second Sex, had become active in the women?s liberation movement. In 1971 when abortion was illegal in France, she signed the Manifesto of the 343, a list of famous women who claimed, mostly falsely, to have had an abortion, thereby exposing themselves to criminal prosecution. The women celebrities who signed what was also known as “le manifeste des 343 salopes” or the ?Manifesto of the 343 Sluts/Bitches? included film personalities Catherine Deneuve and Delphine Seyrig. France legalised abortion in 1975.
India: An exotic Indian protester is the world?s longest hunger striker. That?s 39-year-old Irom Sharmila Chanu called Manipur?s Iron Lady, a poet, civil rights and political activist who?s refused food and water since November 2, 2000 (almost 600 weeks now). She?s under arrest for suicide and force-fed a mixture of liquefied carbohydrates and proteins by a nasal tube three times a day. Her demand is that India?s government repeals the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 imposed in Manipur to combat a decades-long insurgency. There?s been public outrage when suddenly on July 10, 2004, 32-year-old Manorama was picked up from her home by Assam Rifles soldiers on alleged charges of links with separatist rebels. Then her dead body was found in Imphal with multiple bullet wounds, besides signs of rape and torture. In a highly unusual protest, some 40 women stripped naked and staged an angry demonstration outside the Assam Rifles base to remonstrate her death in custody. Special permits are required for Indians and foreigners to visit Manipur, but alerted by the Internet, there?s been worldwide condemnation of Indian Government for continuing with AFSPA.
Ukraine: An Ukrainian feminist group called Femen also staged a topless protest near London?s Tower Bridge on August 2, 2012. They had ‘No Sharia’ scrawled on their naked chests. They demanded that IOC condemns violence towards women from Islamist countries that apply sharia laws as these governments use the participation of women in Olympic games to hide thousands of victims and dead. Femen said on its Facebook page: ?If the IOC keeps flirting with radical Islam, new Olympic disciplines, such as stoning or speed raping will be added to the competition.?
Being static while using the inactive Internet, people have found huge provocation, from visualisation to communication, to pass on their messages. If there is juice, provocation and power, the silent passive Internet system will fire up action. This is a total departure of human character, ?If you don?t listen to me, I will silently send across my message for the world to judge and respond.?
Shombit Sengupta is an international Creative Business Consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com
