Indian Middle Class: Why are they so apathetic to initiate non-violent civil disobedience movement?

Indian Middle Class: Why are they so apathetic to initiate non-violent civil disobedience movement?

DEBAPRASAD BANDYOPADHYAY ⤡

Posted on 12th July, 2024 (GMT 08: 55 hrs)

Dear Friends,

As a part of academiocracy, I have experienced both the poles of Indian citizens: one is at the highest level of bureaucracy, embassy as well as the privileged tiers of academics; moreover, I have also witnessed the lowest level of socio-economically deprived persons in the quarries, mines, jute mills and brick industry through first-hand experiences. I have enjoyed the comfort of these two zones and did not face any noticeable problems in the case of either ends. However, when I started dealing with the Indian middle class after the DHFL scam, I faced several problems. This is the first time in my life that I am facing the “middle class trap”. The problems are somewhat of the following kind:

a) They are (including me) reluctant to participate in any kind of movement involving mass mobilization;

b) They are (including me) dividing two spaces: political space and other spaces of banks, schools, industry etc. They are not at all acknowledging their loss of money in the DHFL scam as a political issue;

c) As a result of their (including me) cowardice, they have chosen a comfort zone of safety and security without any critical discourse or social commitment;

d) They (including me) do not learn from the farmers’ movements, where 750+ farmers died during their agitation against the establishment;

e) Thus, we are lacking organic intellectuals in the realm of Indian middle class, who can “educate, agitate and organize“.

So, they prefer to take their recourse to a lengthy and expensive judicial system (which is also a necessary attempt at times). Furthermore, we, the middle class, depoliticize⤡ the DHFL scam without bothering about the co-extensive character of political animals (zoon politikon) and human beings as such.

As we do not have the experience of participating in movements within our typical middle-class mentality, in the case of DHFL scam, they do not have the “becoming” as a pressure group. Without such pressure group, all the four pillars of democracy cannot act properly.

When we are saying that we are “non-political” or “apolitical” (??!!), we forget the words of Bertolt Brecht, one of the greatest playwrights/directors/poets:

“The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.”

Therefore, I, a part of the class of petty financial bourgeoisie, humbly appeal to all the DHFL victims to be a pressure group by carrying out an all out attack so that we can ensure distributive justice to all the victims of financial abuse.

OBMA has left no stone unturned in the holistic nature of its activities till date. It is my humble request to raise your voices as DHFL victims after finding/identifying your true enemies, who are the sources of our miseries and suffering.

It is a necessary step in the context of the fascist regime. We must keep in mind the future of our progeny, who are seriously at stake.

As far as I understand, this apathetic/indifferent/passive position of the Indian middle class (not generalizable) and the parallel distantiation through an alienated tendency, are caused by the fragile situationality of the crisis-hit middle class in the midst of growing class polarization that leads to proletarianization of the middle class, who thereby start suffering from a state of relative deprivation. I am requesting you all to get rid of this type of apathetic alienation and start participating in the web-based non-violent civil disobedience movement, which is not only restricted to the DHFL scam alone. It is also rhizomatically related to other issues of degenerative atrocities by the state-corporate apparatuses.