Vishal Dadlani

Soli Sorabjee

“It’s no longer about sitting in drawing rooms and criticising the state of affairs,” says Dadlani. “Each individual needs to stand up and say I will do one small thing to change things.” His petition before the Bombay High Court, asking for the formulation of a legally enforceable code of conduct for the electronic media, is Dadlani’s own small contribution to change.

The candles lit at the terror sites have long died out, the flowers have withered, the angst-laden outpourings against politicians and the ‘system’ on the Internet are winding down. But efforts are on to channel the popular discontent into a sustained endeavour for change. “After the shouting and screaming and the protest marches, there is need for something more concrete,” says Owen Roncon, partner at entertainment firm, Oranjuice Entertainment, who is gathering support for a slew of administrative and other reforms through an online petition addressed to the Prime Minister. He has submitted it to all the elected representatives he knows and asked them to make it a part of their agenda.

PEOPLE POWER: A human chain in Mumbai after the terror strikes

Other groups are also tapping into the public discontent. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), whose public interest litigation (PIL) in 1999 led to the mandatory disclosure of the criminal, financial and educational backgrounds of electoral candidates, is one. The idea, says ADR chairman Trilochan Sastry, is to use the demand for greater political accountability to give momentum to its movement for further electoral reforms. The ADR has decided that all its National Election Watch state partners will garner support for steps to improve elections and democracy, including barring candidates against whom serious charges are pending in a court. It is also pushing for a comprehensive bill to regulate political parties. Roncon too is planning a campaign to educate people about governance issues and the need for voting responsibly.

Most of the action is in Mumbai, with six PILs in the Bombay High Court seeking the court’s orders on various issues relating to the terror attacks. Among those who’ve knocked at the court’s doors are Sarla Parekh, who lost her only son and daughter-in-law in the attack, along with cyber guru Vijay Mukhi. Their PIL has sought the court’s directions on a Rs 50-crore plan Mukhi has chalked out to use information technology to prevent further attacks on Mumbai.

Lawyer Amit Karkhanis wants the court to direct Google Earth to block or at least blur images of sensitive locations. There’s also PIL veteran, lawyer V.P. Patil, who wants a commission of inquiry appointed, coastal security improved, and action taken against national security advisor M.K. Narayanan and other bureaucrats and ministers.

In its PIL, the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF), an apex body of law firms, has asked for a citizen’s council to ensure coordination among different government agencies. And former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee has gone straight to the Supreme Court, asking it to direct the government to properly equip and train the police in tackling terror attacks, establish anti-terror units in each state and see to it that security personnel are not stretched to the point of exhaustion.

“As lawyers, we know that nothing moves unless it is monitored by the court or has judicial sanctity,” says SILF president Lalit Bhasin. “I don’t normally file a PIL,” says Soli Sorabjee, “but this happened on such a scale that something had to be done.”

All these people are driven by the feeling that change has to happen. “Sarla-ben was clear that what happened to her should not happen to anyone else,” says Mukhi. Most people feel that the government will not respond unless it is pressured. “The citizen has to do the prodding,” agrees Sorabjee.

A small measure of success has already been achieved. The Bombay High Court, in response to the six PILs, has constituted a 14-member citizen’s committee, comprising eminent persons, company executives and government officials, to make recommendations on security issues and oversee their implementation. The committee has already met once.

People are also shaking off their apathy to civic issues. Today, Mumbai’s area local managements (ALM), or citizens’ groups in various localities, are getting more active, meeting more frequently and working closely with local corporators on a host of issues.

“For years we have been asking questions about why the government isn’t spending more on security and better technology. The frustration had been building up and this incident has made activists of us all,” says Mukhi. Karkhanis had been worrying about the images beamed through Google Earth for several months and had filed Right to Information applications to different ministries, asking them about how they perceived the threat to national security from Google Earth. “When I came to know that the terrorists had used Google Earth to map targets, I knew I couldn’t just wait for replies from the ministries,” says Karkhanis.

For many it was their first foray into activism. “I am 35 years old and have never done anything for my country. As an individual who has a lot to thank the country for, this is the least I can do,” says Dadlani. “We are doing nobody a favour. It is our city,” says Mukhi.

The voluntarism does cut into work time, but people are coping with it in different ways. For Mukhi, sparing time is not a huge strain. “I have reached a point professionally where I can afford to spend time and don’t have to ask permission for a day off,” he says, pointing out that younger people will be caught up in pressures of career and family.

But even younger people seem to be getting a lot of support for their commitment to their cause. Dadlani has found every film producer and director that he’s working for as well as Pentagram (the Mumbai-based electronic band of which he is the vocalist) extremely understanding about his new preoccupation. His partner Shekhar Ravjiani has taken on the larger share of their work load, and his wife too has been very supportive. Roncon has found busy professionals ready to take time out to attend meetings of the ALMs. He and other volunteers are also relying heavily on the Internet to communicate with one another to save time.

Of course, not everybody is convinced that the citizen activism will amount to much change on the ground. “This will not be easy to sustain,” says Samuel Paul of the Bangalore-based Public Affairs Centre. “All this is more a reaction to a crisis than a lasting shift to a higher plane or a mass movement.” The post-26/11 citizen activists, he points out, represent only a minuscule group. “The vast majority of the people is caught up in the daily grind of making ends meet.”

Channelling the anger requires perseverance, warns Sastry. It took eight years for ADR to get some success in its campaign for cleaner elections. “It’s like a marathon, not a 100-metre dash.” Roncon too is aware of the problem. “There will be a level at which the movement will peter out,” he admits, “so we are trying to capitalise on the current mood.” Fortunately, he says, a lot of very committed youngsters have got involved in the effort. Ultimately, it has all to do with individual effort. “I am pledged to keep doing this. I will pick things that need addressing and address them as an individual,” says Dadlani. “Things are going to happen,” predicts Roncon.

More power to him, we say.