A video of a woman thrashed brutally by her neighbors in Morang district recently surfaced in the social networking site Facebook. The lady was beaten until she fainted. Irrespective of the reason for the provocation, there can be no denying that the act itself was inhumane.
The lady and a rights worker supporting her were assaulted. Later they were paraded in public with soot smeared on their faces and shoe garlands around their necks. [break]
A young boy in the area had captured the whole sequence in his mobile and posted it in his personal Facebook page. On the first day of the posting, there were a few shares with strong comments against the inhuman act. Gradually, the video went viral. Before that, none of the mainstream media had taken any interest in the issue.
But the second day, after people from various walks of life made strong comments demanding punishment to the culprits and justice to the assaulted woman in Facebook and Twitter, the issue was given the attention it deserved not just by mainstream media but also by the government. The Chief Secretary himself directly telephoned the Chief District Officer and ordered him to look into the case and bring the culprits to book.
The third day saw coverage of the incident in major newspapers, radio and television stations in the country. Apart from this, several human rights organizations including National Human Rights Commission and Women’s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) Nepal expressed concerns over this incident. As a result, at least six people were taken into custody and will be held for interrogation. And the lady has been given shelter at WOREC Nepal’s safe house.
This is just an example. There are several such incidents of social media not just helping build pressure for justice, but also save lives and spread the message of development, even in a least developed country like Nepal. It is becoming a powerful medium, even though only a limited number has access to it right now. A group of youths started a blood-donation campaign through social media like Facebook and Twitter which has effectively helped save several lives.
Before the advent of social media, it was quite difficult for a person to communicate with many people at once, especially in emergency situations like when someone needs blood. It has been only a few years since the use of mobile phones became prolific, pervasive use of internet came even later. Now, if someone needs blood of any group, he/she usually post it on Facebook and Twitter with contact address. In no time, it gathers the interest of social media users.
Similarly, a couple of years ago a group of Twitter users came up with an idea for a campaign—Tweet for a cause—and collect nominal amounts of money to contribute for social causes. Now the movement has become broader, helping several orphanages with essential things including food, clothes and shelter. They have also started another good campaign “Book for Village” which has helped set up libraries in various remote places where libraries were a dream.
Recently, the government had planned to cut down trees around the Ring Road for road expansion.
But the plan was unsuccessful as social media users threatened to “take to streets” against the plan. The same was the case with a campaign for violence against women. A group of youth came up with an idea of “Occupy Baluwatar (prime minister’s official residence)” that put pressure on the government to take action against culprits and take violence against women seriously. The original idea was floated by some social media users who then formed a group and stood on the streets for months, putting pressure on the prime minister. The movement is still going on, but has been limited to once a week (every Monday).
Social media users also successfully pressurized the government to provide relief packages for recent flood victims in the Far West region. In developing countries like Nepal, although internet service is supposedly accessed by 40 percent of the people, only 12 percent have access to good internet services. Others use internet from mobile phones. However, this is the chunk of people with access to policymakers and bureaucrats. Nepal may be a least developed country, but in the past few years it has come a long way in telecommunication services.
Social media has become not just medium of networking, but also a platform to contribute positively to the society, share suffering, collect relief for people affected by natural disasters, poverty, and commiserate with those in need of either financial or moral support.
Many social development movements could not have gained the momentum they did in the absence of social media. In case of the Belbari, justice could not have been possible if the boy had not posted the video on Facebook. These incidents prove the power of social media and how it can be used for social change.
The author is in-depth reporter for Sajha Sawal
rauniyarish@gmail.com
Related story
LemFi launches instant access savings accounts for UK immigrant...
