Let solidarity be your truth

The world is full of so many staggering problems. Everyone wants to make things better in the world, except the people present at the top of the power pyramid. Colonialism has done a violent bifurcation of the world into a zone of being – ‘The west’ and a zone of non-being – ‘The other’. Such categorization results in a persistent categorical and discriminatory discourse which is reflected in various social and economic structures. These structures promulgate ideas that people subconsciously accept without even questioning their foundation. Unfortunately, these structures have given rise to specific forces and notions in the society that have left people divided into the lines of nationalism, racism, capitalism, etc. These narratives have ardently infected the mindset of people with needing to know where someone is from and what they look like before one should care what happens to them and whether they need Solidarity.

HOW DOES THE STATE AUGMENT THESE IDEAS?

Any violence state uses are considered legitimate and can be quickly legalised by labelling it as necessary for the welfare of the people living in the society. Mainstream media unequivocally strengthens these notions. The law believes that accepting what the state has written down, asking the state for permission to do something, and fearing those who the state has found guilty are always morally correct. In this regard, assuredly, media echoes the language of the state. The state has gained its legitimacy through various constructed processes and structures. Authority has no principle other than its power. For that matter, even the envisioned order that prevails in the status quo under the state is primarily aimed at continuing these power structures, which exist to serve the authority at the expense of others. In this context, the country is a perfect example of authority where we are taught to believe in it, in a way where it fabricates the line of divide between people who belong to different nationalities (us v/s them), making one prey to patriotic conceptions which at times results in nationalist violence and unfortunately makes people of different races unemphatic towards each other. Everyone one of us has been conditioned in an environment that lamentably aligns with these ideas of state. Furthermore, we have been absorbing such ideas in our schools as well. In schools, we are taught myths and lies about how these power structures work solely for the betterment of the people.

We need to question such narratives as to why we have to be divided and turn antagonists because people are from different backgrounds. We have a problem; we live in an epoch where the mainstream education system doesn’t offer you a chance to think in ways that are outside the proclaimed norms. Everything we have been taught is because people in power want us to think that way. In our subconscious minds, we need to dismantle these structures, at least intelligently undermine them.

Now, if we probe deeper, we realise that, at times, humans have proven that they can do anything tangible if worked collectively. Collectivisation now becomes essential to come out of these state-constructed belief systems. In collectivisation, people need to take a holistic approach to any conflict happening across the globe. Purely inculcating an individual approach for solving social problems probably fails every time; as Audre Lorde says, “There is no such struggle as single-issue struggle.” Moreover, in this paradigm, if we extensively kingpin the overlapping lines of the problem, people will be more empathetic towards the stakeholders, irrespective of their background. 

As one needs to understand how the dehumanisation of any community or individual largely convulses our own humanity in tangible ways. The dehumanisation of some has constantly opened the potential for any one of us to be dehumanised, preferably at any point in time. For example, the dehumanisation of Muslims in India has enabled the nation to herald various heinous activities against them, ultimately eroding human rights broadly. It is not simply the “democratic freedom” of Muslims which is being attacked but democracy more broadly. It was the dehumanisation of colonial subjects and the ability of European powers to abuse human beings in other parts of the world that created more propensity for them to do the same thing at home. All this makes us acknowledge how every issue is interconnected, and there is a need for all of us to stand up in solidarity for each other’s rights. Therefore, when this line of commonality is established, it brings the relatability factor to us. This connective link eventually binds people together even more robust, thereby paving the way to a more substantial shock value where the propensity of reforms is significantly likely to occur.

WHAT IS SOLIDARITY?

Solidarity is when we treat the liberation struggle of others as our own. It’s about identifying and undermining sources of oppression and aiding people fighting or escaping it. Sadly, Solidarity in today’s world is being squandered, because it’s impacted by the power structures. In this context, let us make a case study on Ukraine. Initially, when the war broke out, the status quo was flooded with suggestions to punish all the people with any affiliation with Russia at all; for that matter, the focus was only on deporting students and workers with zero connections with Putin. This conception of collective punishment only disrupted the idea of actual Solidarity and humanity. Just because an individual belongs to the land where Putin claims the ownership, we necessarily cannot leave them on their own in the state of conflict. Moreover, the wars and disputes across the globe are essentially pigeonholed under unconscious racism. We don’t notice until we choose or are forced to see it for what it is; we don’t notice.

We need to question, why doesn’t the media tell us about the war going on in other regions? There are even more significant conflicts that are taking place. Not that we shouldn’t talk about Ukraine, but wars happening in the different areas are equally important. Why don’t we see much discourse on Yemen, Syria, Palestine, etc.? Is it because the war happening in these regions is backed by a world hegemon, and people who belong to these nations belong to different races and religions and are not inherently white?

We need to fortify the perception that we as individuals have to show Solidarity for people, not the nation-states, as they vehemently are the constructed structures that add to the dehumanisation process. If we follow solidarity as a principle, we have a chance of winning against the forces that divide us into the lines of nationalism, liberalism, capitalism, racism etc.