Ever since the leak of an alleged Intelligence Bureau in June 2014, the task of civil society groups in contributing to a sustainable future for India has become a lot harder. My role as the Program Director of Greenpeace India has become tougher still. So I’d like to ask you what does it mean to live in the world’s largest and perhaps oldest democracy? And where does civil society fit in?
Since before independence, Indians have organised and mobilised to create the change we want to see. We’ve formed associations, and clubs, and movements and charitable societies – like Greenpeace India. We’ve organised to support each other, to help our neighbours, and to successfully challenge bad decisions by powerful people.
The right to form associations or unions is enshrined in our Constitution [Article 19 Freedom of Speech] . So when the Ministry of Home Affairs starts to target civil society groups and associations because of what they have to say, then it becomes our democratic duty to defend that constitution. The best way to do so is to exert our rights as Indian citizens to participate in such an association.
Being an Indian citizen needs to mean more than simply voting every 5 years it has to involve active participation in our democracy. Can we simply trust politicians or big businesses to always make the right decision for ordinary Indians? Becoming an active part an association that represents your views, to peacefully campaign for what you believe in, to challenge authority where necessary and to help others – defines the place of civil society in modern India.
I can still remember being inspired by the stories of the groups involved in the struggle for independence, the Chipko movement and the Narmada dam protests. I’m still inspired by groups campaigning for equal rights for woman, equality for the Dalits, for the land rights of farmers and of course the battle against corruption. Again this is what civil society in modern India looks like.
So if you believe in Indian democracy and your vision of our democracy doesn’t automatically mean believing what every politician tells you - then now is the time to get involved. To become more than a passive consumer of the struggle for freedom others fought for.
If you are interested in campaigning on environmental issues then I’d encourage you to start your campaign on GreenpeaceX. If there are other issues you’d like to campaign on then you can start campaigns with Change.org or Jhatkaa or many others. There are thousands of organisations organising to make India a better place – so join one.
But first I’d encourage you to talk to your neighbour, find out what they are interested in and together perhaps seed your own part of the civil society movement.
Divya Raghunandan is Programme Director at Greenpeace India
If you want to be part of a movement that speaks up for the environment, sign up here: http://bit.ly/1BRiuDq