I would like to add one more set of angels to the list of Hazare’s five “angels” in your article “Hazare’s Angels” (April 15) — young people who have been continuously expressing their support on Facebook. I would like to compare this with another revolution created by the social media in the Arab world.
There was an annual Finance and Private Sector Development Forum held at the World Bank on April 4 and 5, 2011 and the first plenary session was on the topic of , “Youth, Employment, and Revolution in the Middle East” in which various scholars from the Arab world participated. They pointed out that the new technology of social media played a major role in mobilising the support of domestic as well as international sympathisers – mainly from young Arabs from the age of 15 to 29 years – across the world.
The Arab scholars emphasised that the revolution was neither predicted by them nor by the western world. The panel was, however, happy about this change that is creating a renewed sense of freedom and hope for a better future among the Arab youth.
When this discussion was going on, some participants like me who are of the Indian origin were wondering why such a Tsunami has not hit India, in spite of a series of embarrassing financial scandals. We were pleasantly surprised when we heard the news of Anna Hazare’s fast in New Delhi the very next day on April 5.
Chandrashekhar G Ranade, Washington DC
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