On Wed, 2008-12-17 at 15:45 +0530, Nidhin Sasi wrote:

Freeing knowledge would ofcourse increase the conscious of the oppressed about their rights, but would that automatically give them the basic rights? Most of the denial of their rights stems from the fact that the resources are still captivated by a minority in the society. Unless they fight for those rights, these rights would always be alien for them though in the process though there might be progress in their situation based on the intensity of different struggles. ICT has revolutionised the world in such a way that human beings if have access can attain most of the knowldge at their finger tips and also establish communication with anyone in any part of the world. But the denial of the basic rights would still cause them obstacles even to freely pursue this available Free Knowledge. Though we see them laughing, singing, playing in the daylight and among the crowd each of them might have different difficult situations in their homes which are mostly connected to their lack of accessibility of their basic rights. We can build good toilets and better infrastructure in their locality if we go for fund drive, but would that give a solution to their numeorus other problems they are facing ? Especially in a city like Bangalore with high rates of inflation - what about the food costs, health costs, transportation costs ? Most of the families at the average 3 or 4 children or more, and I think AC3 kids are better off than children in many other areas.

Fighting without empowering oneself is not effective. Currently people do fight with external help from a political party or a social organization, and external leadership and continue to remain powerless even after struggles after struggles.

Sustainable social change does not come without power in the local hands. They cannot claim power without knowledge.

Nagarjuna