‘Being Part of the Problem is not the Solution’
Updated: Sep 16, 2020
Written by Zarah Noorani
Featured art by Taruna Khatri (@half.arted)
To feel is to have the desire to do. We feel and that’s what forms our actions. There’s an overwhelming amount of events taking place all over the world that in one way or another affect us and our lives overall. Black and white, muslims and hindus, dalits and brahmins, educated and illiterate, men and women, everyone is at war.
At this moment, right fucking now – are you at peace? Are you content knowing that you just put up an instagram story calling out a person for using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter because they live in a country where the population of black people is not as prominent? Instead of going all horns in against those who support a cause (read: any cause), maybe take a more productive path, and use that angst against the problem itself. Fight against unfair treatment of Dalits in various fields, fight against police brutality towards protesters and those who raise their voices. No movement is less or more important than the other. Support is support, no? Frankly, you are nobody in this cycle to tell someone what they can support and what they can’t. It’s truly baffling how we tend to take these socially viable matters into our own hands and claim that what we say is the absolute and complete form of truth and justice. Being part of the problem is not in any way the solution.
Open your eyes and see the system is already failing those that raise their voices or stand in solidarity. In times like these, your angsty internet bashing against supporters is unnecessary and needless at best. When we hate on what someone else is doing, it’s often because we don’t like the source it comes from, or the issue is something we don’t want to face. If what I just wrote does not sit well with you, then I am genuinely sorry. Not for writing this, but for the fact that we don’t happen to see eye to eye. It’s Us vs The Problem, not Us vs Each Other. If we could just remember that, and truly get ourselves to learn about these incidents of injustice, in a way that we understand what the fight is for and why we need it! Believe it or not, the world exists outside of social media and social ‘image’. Like my father once told me, “if you want something in life, you have to ask for it.” It’s high time that we at least tried. I will say this again and again, and yet again. Being part of the problem is not, in any way, the solution.
Here’s how you can help. If not financially, the least you can do is learn. Read up about why fighting for a cause is important. Understand its roots and learn about how it affects us.
Please feel free to add to these list of links if you know of more organisations that accept donations. I’ll personally keep adding to it as I find more.
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Funds for the Amphan cyclone in Bengal
Donate to The Bail Project (USA)
Funds for varied causes worldwide
Fund for menstrual health during the pandemic