Hindi

Artificial intelligence and statistical modelling have pushed us into a dark alley. Humanity would take ages to emerge out of it. And the way out is to prioritize human judgment and common sense over insensitive and rash big capital and begin banking on presentation of comparative facts over statistical probability models.

In this article, we would try to find out what kind of the situation the world would find itself in due to the excessive and unwarranted steps taken to arrest the spread of Covid and especially how it would impact the communities facing social deprivation. The article is centred on the exploited communities of India, who form a majority of its population. Besides the communities branded as ‘Untouchables’ by the Hindu religion, they also include others which face societal contempt and stigma such as other lower castes, Adivasis, denotified and nomadic castes, minorities who have converted to other religions, eunuchs etc. During the course of the recent movements for social justice in the country, these communities, which form a majority of the population of India, have started describing themselves as ‘Bahujan’ (people in the majority) as a mark of their solidarity. Bahujan is a conceptual term, which first finds mention about 2,500 years back in the teachings of Buddha. Buddha said, ‘Bahujan Hitay, Bahujan Sukhay’ i.e. what is in the interest of the majority of people of the world, what will bring about their wellbeing, is right. Thus, ‘Bahujan’ is a global term which emphasizes the unity among the majority and which includes all exploited and deprived sections, including those who are victims of racism and gender discrimination. This concept inspires them to perceive themselves as majority and wage a joint struggle. The word ‘Bahujan’ has been used in the article in this context and meaning.

It is a comment about Indian climate activist Disha Ravi, who was arrested by the police on 13 February 2021. The Government of India has charged her with sedition.

The 22-year-old Disha is charged with contributing to the 'toolkit' prepared by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg for mobilizing support for the ongoing agitation of the landowners (farmers) of Punjab.

However, what has been published in the media does not throw complete light on the matter. Here, I tried to discuss some untouched aspects of the entire issue.

फरवरी, 2021 में  भारतीय डिज़िटल दुनिया में यह ख़बर छायी रही कि सरकार सोशल-मीडिया कंपनियों  पर लगाम कसने के लिए एक कड़ा नियमन लेकर आयी है। इसे “सूचना प्रौद्योगिकी (मध्यवर्ती संस्‍थानों के लिए दिशा-निर्देश और डिज़िटल मीडिया आचार संहिता) नियम, 2021 “ का नाम दिया गया है। कहा गया कि जिन कंपनियों की नकेल कसने में यूरोपीय देशों को नाकों चने चबाने पड़ रहे हैं, उसे भारत की मौजूदा मज़बूत सरकार ने आख़िरकार झुकने के लिए मजबूर कर दिया।

लेकिन वास्तव में ये नियम  मध्यवर्ती प्लेटफॉर्मों पर नकेल कसने से अधिक अपनी जनता को भयभीत करने, सामाजिक-सांस्कृतिक और राजीनितिक स्तर पर मूलगामी सवाल उठाने वालों को  क़ाबू में रखने के लिए हैं। इससे बहुसंख्यक भारतीय जनता को, जो भी, जैसी भी अभिव्यक्ति की आज़ादी अब तक प्राप्त है, वह भी अनेक रूपों में  बाधित होगी।