Misusing Social Issues to Defend Yourself

By Panav Bali | Student of Network Capital School
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“Self-discovery is a journey of questioning yourself.” -Archibald Marwizi

Today, in the 21st century, everyone is enlightened and aware of the various social problems occurring around us. There are always times when we question ourselves. Afterall, to have a clear picture of ourselves, self-doubt is necessary. During this reign of social activists, it becomes understandable that the global social issues are sometimes taken into consideration, but in a very wrong aspect. Many people in the world face immense hardships when it comes to certain prejudices or discriminations. Some struggle to bring about change while some do not achieve their goals. Some people are oppressed, while others are able to present their thoughts boldly and with intellect. But during this commotion, the real picture of the social problem gets blurred. The ray of truth is stopped from ushering into the layman’s eyes. These social issues are used as masks to cover the actual certainty. These issues can be misused by an individual, a group of people or even sometimes an entire country. But the question arises, HOW CAN ONE MISUSE SOCIAL ISSUES?

In this race of mankind, where everyone stands for themselves, there are always people who are insecure because of their own personal reasons, which may include looks, social identity, body structure, religion and various other whys and wherefores. While some work day and night to overcome these obstacles, some just depend on easier methods. Social Issues become a part of these easier methods. Some people misinterpret the actual meaning of a specific issue while others knowingly take advantage of the same. 

How do people misunderstand these social issues?

A case of misunderstanding happened with a friend of mine. He was a bit on the fatter side of body structures. He was very much overweight and this was leading to obesity. Once, a doctor told him that he should be reducing his weight. Now, this friend of mine thought that he was bullied for his weight and declared that the doctor supporting body shaming. After several debates and discussions, I tried to make him understand that the doctor was not bullying him for his weight, instead he was guiding him onto a better and healthier track of life. But this is only one case, I wonder how many insecure teenagers or people of any age have the wrong interpretation of such issues.

Not only this, people also support such important issues for vague reasons. I have seen people supporting the LGBTQ+ Community just for the sake of getting into the modern-day debate. Supporting these events to get into the recent global activity is not correct. Using and disposing these events for one’s own personal good, is not correct.

Have there been cases, where social issues were misused knowingly?

Sadly, yes, and two out of many such cases were of my own country, India. In the early 1947’s when people were standing for the collective independence of all the Indian citizens, there were certain groups of people arising for a different change. At that time, the Indian independence from the British was a very important social issue, although the people of those times were unable to get in touch as we can today. The minds of certain groups were manipulated, as can be said, and the holy land of mother India was divided into two countries. Were the groups wanting this change or did the Britishers manipulate the innocent minds? This question has always been a conspiracy, but something which is known for several decades is, that this social issue was misused for some people or groups’ own personal good. 

If we reflect into the modern day, the recent events also show this type of misuse. During the farmer’s protest in India, where people were struggling to gain their rights, some people were busy misleading the masses. People of all religions and castes stood shoulder to shoulder fighting for their rights. But during this time of peace protests, a conspiracy was in the making. In a short period of time, under the name of farmers, a particular religion started to rise and spread awareness about a topic which was inappropriate with respect to the priority of the farmers. The news of a separate land for a religion started to spread and on the Independence Day of the country, revolts and riots were carried out. Even though such incidents were suppressed for good, it can’t be denied that if the people spreading the wrong message succeeded, mother India could be hurt again.

These were a few of the cases which are examples of misusing social issues, but ask yourself, have you ever been in such place?
At the end of the day, everyone is equal. All we need to understand is that we need to stand with each other, not against each other.

Let humanity rise.

Panav was a part of the Network Capital Summer School.

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