Imposing a nation wide bandh! Well so what if it's unconstitutional and that many people do not want to participate. If you live in a BJP state you are just roughed up and manhandled till you toe the line according to their dictate. Goons are escorted like VIP's in police cars, to see that every shutter on every business is closed. Who cares that the aam aadmi may survive only from his daily earnings! What matters for these office bearers that are elected representatives of the people, is that you can boast that they succeeded in paralysing the normalcy of a nation (including their own voters!)!!
Of course violence is NEVER admitted to! Every politician that whips up mob frenzy and incites their cadre to intimidate through methods that employ strong arm tactics, will come on countless television programs and debates to "virtuously" proclaim their absolute disdain for instigated violence! Fingers will be pointed elsewhere but never at their own who are guilty.
The grinning satisfaction of Arun Jaitley as he was arrested today, made me feel as though I was watching some school boy game of cops and robbers! I am living in a city where if we have one day of heavy rain, major sections of Baroda are flooded instantly; and life is completely disrupted for thousands of people. Where is Mr. Modibhai and other BJP wala's for the real issues that need to be dealt with as part of their tenure as elected members of political office? Protesting against a policy/decision such as price hikes have venues like parliament. Why bring it out onto the road in ways that serve no other purpose but to inconvenience. And in parliament what do they do there? Their protests disrupt the functioning of governance and invite chaos! Can somebody explain to me where all this finally leads to, in so far as offering alternative suggestions that position protest in ways that are constructive.
If it is the aam aadmi 's inconvenience that this bandh represents, then why double the burden and destabilize the lives of these very people you pretend to speak for, by destroying their lives even for a day?! Camera footage shows the property of small business owners and food-stall vendors being trashed. Wow! What guardian angels are these who wreck violence on those they claim to protect?!
Your white kurta Mr. Jaitley may get a bit grubby in all this designed tamasha you so diligently played out for the television cameras today; but the really soiled fabric is your credibility and all those who follow similar attitudes that trampling on the lives of ordinary Indian people, who you are in fact supposed to be serving the citizens with loyalty and consideration. What an utter farce you and your tribe are.
Actually I enjoyed this bandh after a long time. Being from Bengal, we've experienced this ad nauseam till it became part and parcel of our identity. My body was going into withdrawal at this bandh-less existence. But finally, there it was. A day without traffic, a day when we could go out and play cricket on the streets, a day less noisy, and a day that made my Bengali heart swell in nostalgia. I could almost cry. It touched me just like the picture of a distant train reminds me of Pather Panchali and brings tears to my eyes. It made me want to wear half pants once again, only they are called shorts these days.
ReplyDeleteWe would always wait for the bandh day to go look for country liquor. It never occurred to us that stacking up a day earlier would save us a lot of trouble. Maybe we had no place to stack bottles or maybe the very idea of scouring the countryside for one drop gave us kicks. Our favorite girls would be at home, sometimes peeking out of their windows with disgust at these utterly jobless urchins.
To celebrate this bandh, this weekend I drank with a Malayali friend. Our dead cellphones were not ringing for a change, and we could hear distinctly the clinks of our glasses as the whisky caught the color of the setting sun.