Vote for change: India says together we can

OPINIONS THAT MATTER: People hold a banner at a gathering of hundreds of people in Mumbai.

      

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It's been a week since Mumbai was taken hostage by daring terrorists. On Wednesday, across the country, Indians came out together in grief, united in rage. From Mumbai to Delhi to Hyderabad to Bangalore, people marched on streets expressing their solidarity with those who suffered and also questioning the decision makers.

In Mumbai, hundreds gathered outside the Gateway of India, candles were lit, placards were flashed and a human chain was formed.

Two hundred people were killed and close to 400 were injured in the terror strike last week.

Since then, SMSs and the Internet have become platforms for citizens to vent their ire - rage against the fact that the political discourse in the country since the terror attacks has gone completely tangential.

The predominant mood at the rallies was anger with people insisting they wanted politicians to action their promises, take the threat of terror seriously and not just try and cling to their seats.

But can citizens protests lead to concrete action on the ground? CNN-IBN debated the question on Face the Nation with a panel comprising Rajya Sabha MP, NCP Supriya Sule; Gerson De Cunha trustee of AGNI and cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle - both of whom participated in the protest marches; and social activist Arvind Kejriwal.

At the beginning of the show 65 per cent said yes, citizens protests lead to concrete action on the ground, while 35 per cent felt otherwise.

A WEEK SINCE 26/11

Harsha Bhogle started the debate by saying that he was unsure whether citizen protests would lead to the change the country was looking for.

"What I saw today was as beautiful as tragedy can allow anything to be. There was a spontaneous outpouring from people, they were out on the streets on their own and no one was coercing them to be there - something which is certainly new for the political establishment. There was a fervour and this time, without religion being involved," he said.

He added that there were policemen present but the crowd was well behaved, no one was jostling and the police force had no trouble at all.

At the end of the day, the idea of a mature democracy is to augment the political class and there seems to be an inherent danger in these spontaneous protests. But did not seem to think that Indians have gone a little overboard in criticising politicians in the country.

"Over a lakh of people collected at the Gateway of India on Wednesday and what united them was a hatred of Indian politics. I don't think that we can go too far in being critical of the political system. There is no going overboard with our criticism of the politician who has let us down tragically and totally," De Cunha said, mincing no words.

INDIA UNITES AGAINST POLITICIANS

Milind Deora told CNN-IBN on Wednesday that for the first time in his life, he was ashamed to be a politician. But despite these strong words, it seems as if the political class of India has no concrete plan to regain the confidence of its citizens.

Supriya Sule said in an attempt to defend the political class that politicians were human beings too.

"I was born and brought up in Mumbai just like Milind and we feel the pain and the anguish of the citizens. We have lost friends, colleagues, people we have known all our lives too. Some have been badly injured," she said.