World today has been in big social turmoil with one slogan, “Black life Matters”, indicating how and why black people are treated sub humanly and like animals and black people demands fairness and human treatment regardless of race or skin color.
This awakening started after a little girl uploaded a YouTube video of her mobile in the city of Milwaukee in United States last month. Video depicted a black man arguing with police officers and then some scuffling and then one of the white policemen knocking black man down on floor with his knee on Blackman’s throat and Blackman saying “I cannot breathe, I cannot breathe”. Man was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. YouTube episode shook the world, not just America. There were protests in Johannesburg, Berlin, London, Paris, Madrid, Sidney.
Old statue and historical monuments were torn down like those of General Lee during American civil war when southern States Confederate refused to abolish slave trading ordered by president Lincoln. Removal of Confederate monuments has been an ongoing debate in the United States for decades. But this incidence prompted new awakening in the masses. Yale university founders were involved in slave trade from Africa and from India. Protesters demanded new name for it.
This new global awakening of “Black life Matters “should cross the mind of India that we never questioned atrocities of each one of Moslem, Mughal and British empires since last 1100 years. How timid we were changing Mumbai Victoria terminal to Chhatrapati Shivaji, Connaught place to Rajiv chowk? How mercilessly was the Government attacked by arm chair historians like Romila Thapar, a professor at JNU when some curriculum was changed in 2006 in textbooks on Hindutva.
Purda, child marriage and Sati system all were born among Hindus from fear of their mothers, sisters and daughter being stolen , enslaved and traded like any other commodity within and outside the country. Mughal emperor Akbar and lessons of his skills are still taught and called as “Akbar the Great” in our history books. Look at how we worship fair skin color. Skin creams to whiten brown skin are big money makers for global corporations in India. Even the most fancy Indian literary festival, Jaipur literary festival was a brain child of white man, Indians feel so proud of attending every year.
Would a movement like Black life Matters have any effect on Indian psych?
We do have a fine constitution that demands equality and fairness for all its children.
May be this movement will wake up a giant that holds nearly biggest chunk of human population on the earth. May be this Milwaukee miracle will bring some light to the conscience of India that did not happen in last 73 years since we got rid of the last empire in 1947.
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