ABSTENTION MAKES PEOPLE MUTE
THE PROVOCATION OF AN INDIAN VIDEO MAKER
Interview to Ram Subramanian, author of the film “Mute”.
1) What is your name, how old are you and where are you from?
Ram Subramanian, 35 years old and I am from Mumbai, India.
2) Why did you decide to shoot this video?
Someone, at some point, had to speak the truth. The person in the film is me (played by an actor called Sumeet Thakur).
This is what I feel is wrong with India right now and I am not the only one who feels this way. There are a lot of disgruntled people out there who might start revolting out of frustration. I saw normal people, pissed off, organizing on the Internet and stepping out on the streets to protest against the New Delhi rape incident.
The net is making it happen, we are already seeing it in some pockets of the world. It will only grow. It is inevitable.
And I wanted to channel this frustration, this anger, in the right way. I believe democracy is a powerful weapon when usedcorrectly. And we can change the system using the system.
If 100% of India votes then every politician will think twice before doing anything, right or wrong, because he/she knows people are watching. And people have the power to sack an under-performing employee.
3) Is this electoral campaign (and elections in general) different from
the others? Why?
Yes it is. Indians recently saw a bunch of anti-corruption activists start a political party and win (to form the state government in Delhi). This party has gone national now and is gaining popularity every day. Which means 2 things:
- In case they come into power things will change.
- In case they don’t come into power things will still change because the party that comes into power will know they have four years (until the next general election) to show they can do better or else they will be out of the ‘politics business’.
4) Why do you think people won’t go to vote?
If you pause on 2:48 of the timeline of the film ‘Mute’ you will see all the reasons why I feel people don’t vote.
5) What would the risk be in case people don’t vote?
An unclear voice will tell the rest of the world who is going to represent us and lead us. If it happens it will be unfortunate but I have a sneaky feeling we are doing good this year.
