UPSC SOCIO MAINS SYLLABUS
Paper 1 – Politics and Society
Chapter 7 – Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.
- It is essentially a wave of pro-democracy protests.
- Took place in Middle East and North Africa.
- Began in 2010 in Tunisia and Egypt.
- The name ‘Arab Spring’ is a reference to the Revolutions in 1848 when political upheavals swept Europe.
- A street vendor immolated himself against mistreatment of local officials.
- Protests followed throughout the country.
- President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country.
- Later, a democratically chosen President and Prime Minister took office.
- Young Egyptians protested through social media following Tunisian protests.
- Egyptian army refused to use force against protesters.
- President Hosni Mubarak left office
- Military enjoyed a high public approval in the interim before a new government.
- Encouraged by Tunisian and Egyptian protests, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and Libya held demonstrations. Unlike Tunisian and Egyptian, the struggles between opposition and ruling regimes turned bloody and violent.
- A visible domino effect.
- Unparalleled in speed and intensity of the movement.
- Dubbed at the time “the Facebook revolution” as movement benefited largely from social media communication.
- No grand plans for usurping power.
- No organised leadership.
- Wanted meaningful reforms.
- The emphasis was on change through civil society – voluntary associations and unions, etc.
- It was a push to end corruption.
- End of unaccountable governments.
- Improved citizen’s quality of life.
- Lead to additional waves of protests.
- Explosion of political activities.
- Shifting towards democracy.
- Gender equality was not a primary focus but women took leading roles in the protests.
ANTI-CORRUPTION MOVEMENT IN INDIA 2011
The massive protest movement that has erupted throughout India in sympathy with a fast against political corruption conducted by an elderly social activist has all the earmarks of a new democratic uprising in the subcontinent. Like the Arab spring protests that toppled dictatorships in Tunisa and Egypt and sparked continuing protests in Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen, this movement is spontaneous and urban, organized through social networks on cyberspace, and has evoked the support of tens of thousands of largely young middle-class workers and professionals throughout India’s major cities.
- India against Corruption (IAC) is an anti-corruption movement of 2011-12 in India.
- Protests ensued in concern with the introduction of Jan Lokpal Bill.
- Protesters demanded creation of a Lokpal (ombudsman) who would have powers to arrest and charge government officials accused of corruption.
- It was led by Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal.
- The Movement was primarily one of non-violent resistances, civil disobedience, hunger strikes and rallies.
- Protests were non-partisan.
- The Movement highlighted strong anti-corruption measures, stricter electoral reforms and political accountability.
- The immediate political fallout of the movement was the beginning of decline of the Indian National Congress.
- Led to emergence of Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party.
