The lessons from a ministerial tweet
The controversy regarding Tharoor`s comments on Twitter might have eased out now, but this has offered many lessons to other politicians who are aspiring to become a part of such social networking websites.
INDIA HAS created a comfortable niche for itself in the cyberspace. There are assumptions that by 2013, we will be on third position in the maximum number of people online, preceeded only by US and China.
During the last general elections, the virtual space had played an important role in BJP`s campaign. This is a testimony for the fact that our politicians have begun to realise the hidden potential of the fast growing elite community of internet users. However, the recent controversy regarding Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor's comments on Twitter has cautioned the country's politicians who wish to enter the matrix world!
The comparison of Indian politicians with their counterparts from other countries in this context draws up many interesting conclusions. With the likes of Obama, Kevin Rudd in its list of celebrities, Twitter has inspired many politicians to make candid opinions through this forum although, the authenticities of these profiles are being questioned. In this regard, Tharoor led the way among politicians holding the highest job in our country, to use Twitter to express his views.
But, some hiccups were surely on cards when a responsible minister in India began to rely on an unfamiliar friend of large Indian masses. Many a times, his commitment has been under the scanner and often the masses and fellow politicians looked at it sceptically. Despite these raised eyebrows, Tharoor went ahead and made most of his stint in Twitter until he recently fell into a pit-trap.
Being a twitter minister is a really tricky proposition in India. The aam aadmi in India is always engaged in the struggle to be a bread winner. His hopes and aspirations are always bound by many constraints. If we take the percentage of highly educated Indian middle class, we paint a very shabby picture of our education. Obama`s concern over the rising number of Indians going for higher education in comparison with USA and our moderately high literacy rates amongst the developing world should not mislead us into thinking that we are even close to or a touch below optimum . It is worth to note that this literacy rate refers to only the functional literacy. Even the entirety of the highly educated class is unfamiliar with Oxford or Harvard level vocabularies. Hence our politicians must understand the need for using suitable vocabulary and the need to avoid vagueness in their comments so that these opinions are not taken out of context.
Here, the politicians of the west have a definite advantage with English being their most common medium of communication. Thus twitter should never be used as a canvas for creating masterful literary works by our politicians. Rather, if they decide to use it then it should be simple and successful in conveying the message without being open to interpretations. The term cattle class was found offensive by many, while others thought it was routine. That's the diversity of Indian audiences, as we have takers for both extremes, but few who have a mid way opinion.
With a wide spectrum of linguistic pluralism, every word or phrase in a tweet should be carefully selected and used, especially if you are a politician because, the public media will make breaking news out of your slip! Although India has a large online population, the number becomes minuscule when compared with the total population. Hence the argument of reaching out to the people through Twitter seems indigestible. After all, our politicians should be thinking of better ways to reach out to people.
Democracy is not just the affair of a few thousands in twitter. Politicians of India can surely tweet, but considering the sensitivity of Indian public, it is far more advisable to refrain from making any personal comments or judgements in such an informal medium. Though many politicians are fast joining such mediums, they should learn a lesson from this case and remember to be politically correct.
.what sasi tharoor has entered is the area of great importance ,it reminds me of a great saying today is your own, tommorow perchance may never come, he as a politician infact an intellectual trespassed into a domain which will be the essence of tommorow, he has set a bench mark for the politicians...
tharoor is the representative of bharat vs India debate.... so we are in no position to either express solidarity or to refute to his methodologies. The best we can do is to anticipate for the proof of time to deal with this naunce....
.By considering Mr. Tharoors role as a minister, & his earlier conttributions to the country , i am of the opinion that , this type of issues are created by TV only , for thier cheap publicity.
.As a person , who watched the `political tricks ` during the last elections at TVM , I am fully agreeing with the writers observations. ANI, Director , Sidhi VInayak Assocites
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