Hyderabad: The social unrest in Brazil might have paled in comparison to the excitement of the Fifa World CUP across the world, but in Hyderabad, a few youngsters empathised so strongly with the protesters that they even launched a social media campaign to highlight the issue.
Rahul Das, S.M.Y. Rafi and Aishan Vali connected with the protests in Brazil because they saw parallels in India, with the “exception that Indians hardly stand up for what’s right”.
The Brazilians have been protesting against the government which they allege is corrupt spending an estimated $14 billion on the World Cup, while ignoring the country’s poverty and social issues. The unrest began as early as June 2013, and continued to intensify in the run-up to the World Cup.
Rahul, 21, says, “We launched a social media campaign to raise awareness about the situation in the backdrop of the World Cup. In fact, our accounts were blocked and our posts deleted after they were reported ‘abusive’,” he says.
There was nothing “abusive” about their posts other than pointing out the irony of the situation. But the posts packed a punch, owing to the networking these young activists did. “I was in touch with a journalist from Vice, who was covering the protests in Brazil and also a photographer who has documented some powerful images of the protests,” adds Rahul, a musician.
But why feel so much for Brazil? “Because I feel bad for India. This is a way of saying ‘Look, when those people can stand up for themselves, why can’t you wake up to your own realities?’” he says.
Rafi, meanwhile, has been trying to make a change in the real world by urging his colleagues and friends to boycott watching the World Cup matches, but to no avail. “It’s a moral obligation. People should stand up. Most people ask ‘Why not look out for India?’. But it’s not about nationalism, it’s about humanity,” he says. His rapper colleague, Aishan Vali, puts it concisely: “We are all connected. There are no us and them. We are all in this together.”
And Rafi is among the biggest football fans himself. He ran 1 km shirtless when Real Madrid won a recent tournament and the celebrations were limitless when Spain won the World Cup last time.
But his love for football comes with a real ideology. “I’m a big fan myself. In fact, when it was announced in 2010 that the WC would be in Brazil, my friends and I had decided to save money to make it to the tournament. I’m now boycotting the World Cup because this tournament has started to waver from what the spirit of football really stands for,” he points out.
And his protest is also backed by facts. “One of my closest friends is a Brazilian, and I have heard the ground realities from him. Everyone also knows how important football is for Brazilians, but when they too are boycotting it then imagine how important this cause should be,” he says, adding that the World Cup in Qatar, in the year 2022, is already heading for trouble.
