BHARAT BANDH- ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Tomorrow, the 27th April. A Bharat Bandh under the umbrella of almost all opposition parties is likely or unlikely to paralyze normal life in the country. This is in protest against the galloping price rise of food items and essential commodities and the steep hike in fuel prices. To register the protest of the masses, this bandh has become an inevitability. If a bandh is warranted, due to the anti-people politics of the Govt, there is no other way out.

Some questions are bound to arise, have already arisen from certain quarters. Cultural icons, a section of writers, artists, erstwhile revolutionaries who have evolved into mature ones, some have chosen social activities like empowerment of women and children-a commendable job indeed-a section of citizens, technocrats, entrepreneurs – the list abound citing various reasons for their objections to bandhs or hartals.

Such reservations and protests against hartals - here in Kerala it is hartal instead of Bandh, both one and same - are to, a certain extent, yes, to a certain extent only, are, justifiable. Fed up with frequent hartals which adversely affect the normal life of the public one conscientious citizen filed a public interest litigation before the Honorable High Court of Kerala appealing to ban bandhs. The intelligent and cunning political leaders of Kerala soon after the High Court banned bandhs in Kerala renamed it by another name – Hartal. But on taking into account the overall picture, a hartal or bandh is an outlet to register protest against the anti-people policies of higher authorities whoever they are.

Kerala people, majority of them are against hartals. Who is to blame for it? Doubtlessl;y, I would say doubtlessly and categorically, it is on account of political parties and leaders, no one an exception. Frequnet hartals declared, all of a sudden, by political parties , to protest against some group or another political party (some of them are regional hartals) to register protest on account of murders resulting from political rivalry and subsequent clashes, or against the Govt of the day for minor issues add to misery of a vast spectrum of people ranging from commuters waiting for buses or trains getting stranded at bus stations and railway stations finding no way to reach their destinations, tourists left in the cold also stranded at airports, resorts, railway stations, bus stations, squeezed to the maximum by greedy autorickshaw drivers and cabbies harvesting a huge bonanza, affecting the tourism sector adversely and the image of the land getting clouded abroad, regular office-goers, nursery going kids and students badly affecting their studies.

Those who call for frequent hartals, here underline frequent, don’t know or the pretend to be ignorant about the way some vested interests bent upon capitalizing on such miseries to satisfy their ulterior motives and for finding justification for their unjust acts.

One national daily The New Indian Express has taken up the initiative to invite the opinions of a wide cross-section of the society to enlighten the common man about the hardships to which they are subjected to on hartal days.

Though a regular reader of the reputed newspaper, without any malice towards them, I am tempted to write something.

Right from the days of veteran Newspaper baron, Ramnath Goenka, Indian Express allegedly continues to follow a tradition of anti-employee stance, for instance an All India strike of Bank Employees often castigated by it alleging luxurious life styles of Bank employees drawing “huge pay-packs” oh my god, and in spite of it demanding more pay, more perks, more service amenities, in fact, have to slug it out to get their demands settled. I was a bank-employee, though opted out of service more than three years ago and hence I know for sure the ‘weight’ of the ‘huge pay-packs’ they are referring to. They are requested to kindly inquire about and compare the salaries drawn by an IT employee and a bank employee. Recently, believe me if you can, I came to know from a UP school teacher that he draws a fairly large amount as his monthly salary. Besides, The New Indian Express, many outsider customers included speaks about the virtues of a glamorous profession like banking and the ‘huge pay-packets’ drawn by a bank employee. The fact that since a well-dressed bank-employee riding his motorcycle or car every morning to the bank doesn’t mean that he leads a glamorous life of pomp and pageantry. Whatever they have achieved up till now, and even after it is on account of their frequent demands, protests, collective bargaining and occasional strikes.

During my occasional trips to Ernakulam, I could see red-banners raised by The New Indian Express employees and temporary sheds built by them to escape from the searing Sun, their slogans demanding the owners of The New Indian Express ‘Meet our demands’, ‘Do justice to us’, what came off it, I don’t know.

Ramnath Goenka, it is heard, was adept in breaking the strike of Express employees resorting to iron-fist rules ranging from transfers, suspensions and dismissals. Never did he bow down to their pressures and protests.

Sometimes to achieve our aims we should have to adopt various measures like strikes and bandhs, sometimes even fast unto death. Even Mahatma Gandhi adopted such steps to achieve the demands.

One week ago BSNL employees across the country went on an indefinite strike demanding settlement of various issues. Only then the Govt. bowed down and settled the problem at least for the time being.

Misutilization of this path, hartal, I mean frequent hartals in the long run is likely to rebound and hence the crusaders are on the upbeat.

Anyhow from a citizen’s point of view, tomorrow’s Bharat Bandh is an inevitability.