New Delhi: They're on websites, on bulletin boards and all over your inbox.
Internet petitions are fast becoming the vehicle of choice for people looking to spread the word about different causes.
Aditya Raj Kaul, who started an online petition for a retrial in the Priyadarshini Mattoo case, even took his petitions on reservations to the President.
"In this modern era, people are very busy with their daily routines. So i decided to have this petition. It was a very good way to mobilise public opinion," Kaul says.
Petitions are usually hosted at sites like petitiononline.com, where you can petition for everything from justice in Lebanon to appealing the FIFA ban on Marco Materazzi.
"It's a good way of judging how many people are willing to endorse your petition. Like a market survey of your cause," a blogger, Shivam Vij, says.
But online petitions have their critics who say these petitions are not verifiable, since the signatures are easily duplicated.
Joe Athialy is one such petitioner who has worked with people's movements for several years. He uses Internet petitions himself, but says they have limited value.
“Online petitions shouldn't replace actual struggle. For example, I shouldn't feel content clicking a mouse and thinking I've done something,” Athialy says.
The Prime Minister's Office receives an average of two to three petitions a week at pmindia.nic.in, many of them from Non Resident Indians.
The number soars when there is public outcry over an issue, but Government chooses to differ.
“It's not the number of signatures that matter. It's the legitimacy of the grievance, and the one or two people raising the issue,” PM’s media adviser Sanjaya Baru says.
Though these web requests are fast becoming the order of the day to make oneself heard, even the most enthusiastic petitioner knows that the struggle eventually has to go offline, and come down to the streets.
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