I need a break.....

I need a break from some things and one of them is Bandhs. Bandhs are the in-thing in Patna as its nearly election time and each political party calls for a Bandh someday or the other. The funny thing is that two or more parties may want to organize a bandh on the same issue but they call for a bandh on different days in order to protect their individual identities. As a result on Monday we had the BJP-JD (U) combines bandh against the rising prices and on Wednesday, the bandh is organised by CPI(ML) on another raging issue: naxalism. I do not know what fun these parties get in organizing these bandhs. Don't they realize that such bandhs disrupt public life, lead to hugh economic losses (refer to TOI dated 06.07.10) and cause a lot of nuisance? When I was in school, I looked forward to these bandhs as it gave us a day off in the middle of the hectic academic year. By the time I reached college, bandhs of all types became the norm of the day and invariably we would have quite a number of holidays due to bandhs and then landed up with extra classes to complete the syllabus. Today the situation is slightly better but we are mentally preparing ourselves for lots of bandhs till the elections get over!
Apart from these huge Bharat bandhs, Bihar bandhs and Patna bandhs, there are, at times, local bandhs to protest against irregular electricity or water supply or blocked drains in an area. Sometimes, these bandhs turn out to be more violent than the other bandhs. The local population in the area of protest may end up destroying the wind shields of buses, cars and autos moving through that area, puncture the tyres of vehicles (irrespective of the make of the vehicle) and even lash out at the people on foot. Something similar happened in the capital (ND) last night. Do such acts bring electricity or water to the concerned area or change their situation in any manner? Sadly, the answer is in the negative. No government officials visit the disturbed locality and the residents of the said locality lose the sympathy of the general public due to the attitude of the few who take on themselves the burden of drawing government and public attention!
We seriously need to think of ways of protest so as to achieve the desired end without disrupting the life of the general public and leading to loss of public property!

Comments

Anonymous said…
This is really disturbing. Its sad that how people become victim of such manipulation and start taking part. But most of the people who are doing these violent protests are either gundas employed by the parties or youngsters who have nothing better to do.According to a well known news channel, in Kashmir these days well planned bandhs are arranged, those involve get some money and in return they have to create problems for the police by throwing stones and shouting loud. Not only gundas but women are also used sometimes to give the bandhs a genuine look.They just act according to the well written script. In the end bandh is announced as successful. Even if we don't believe in this news such actions are quite well known to us. Taking nothing away from the freedom of expression and some bandhs for genuine reasons by people at large, these fake bandhs only increase problems in our day to day lives. Those who don't have monthly salary but work on daily wage have to suffer the most
July 7, 2010 at 1:01 AM
deVa said…
Political parties, irrespective of region have always wanted to prove one thing- that they care for the masses and they find 'bandh' just a means to inform the stupid people that they are not pleased with the cause whatsoever. Puncturing a vehicle or destroying public property won't bring back any situation under control and this fact is known to all including me and you. Different political parties calling different days for bandh is indeed something seen in every state.
In the end, people take pride in the fact that they just had a bandh, so in a way they oppose the government. But who suffers at last?
July 7, 2010 at 3:30 AM
Professor Shanker Dutt said…
Civil disobedience as a form of protest that involves popular intervention in a public space has been legitimized by the founding fathers of our postcolonial nation. In 1974, JP launched an agitation against authoritarianism that affected the lives and schedules of the students of Bihar that set them back by two years.Bu they felt that although they had a two year vacation, they had made a solid national contribution. At a time in the 1950's in the United Kingdom when the fictional Jimmy Porter said' there are no more brave causes left' Britain and the western world lost their creativity to utilise public spaces for brave causes. India's postcolonial overhaul never lost sight of its causes because the overhaul was merely a replication of the colonial practices. So, the resistance that was valid in colonial times is valid in postcolonial India. When you have a system that is unacceptable, there is bound to be a resistance. If there is to be a resistance, it is nice to have a safety valve in terms of a one day bandh. Or several one day bandhs. Especially when the month does not have its adequate share of red letter dates. Everybody is happy. School children get a holiday. There is a legitimate excuse for not being able to get to the place of work. Economists can rework their statistics and tell us that productivity has been affected to the tune of a mere 0.001 percent which can be made up by cancelling the Sunday coffee brak. The sensex does not reflect the losses majorly. The beacon lights will continue to blink and whiskey will continue to flow. So don't get hassled by events that break habitual patterns of daily life. Shklovsky called it ostrananie or defamiliarisation. It breaks the monotony of living and restores health to society. It is not suffering but an act of regeneration. After all the government called a bandh the other day. And the opposition has called for a bandh over the weekend.And both together can never be wrong.
July 7, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Dr. Smriti Singh said…
yes...two wrongs make a right! the following need analysis: 'restores health to society' and 'regeneration'. Its for people like us who watch the events unfolding through the news channels or information passed on phone where we sit at home and chill out. But what about those really affected by such acts? The commuters to railways stations,bus stands and airports, the people who need certain emergency services? And again what are we resisting to? When people don't cast their votes in elections, they don't realize that they have actually lost the right to resist anything! So the bandhs will be there, the red lights and yellow light will continue to glow and whiskey will flow for a select few!
July 7, 2010 at 10:35 PM
Professor Shanker Dutt said…
A bandh follows the logic of Wittgenstein's codes. Those that call a bandh are supposed to be outdoors and all others a supposed to be indoors. Code switching is unacceptable. Just in the manner of a game of chess where the knight cannot move in the manner of a castle, these codes are meant to be followed strictly. Just the way you cannot play football with the rules of golf. Therefore one is not supposed to commute on such days. Reschedule travel plans and take plenty of precautions against medical emergencies, and if they do occur, one must have faith. Faith heals. How often have I heard priests, since my bonny childhood days, saying that God heals through doctors. On occasions such as this, God has the opportunity to heal directly. It is a test of faith, of the many people who throng Darbhanga House on Saturdays, dargas, churces and shrines on all other days. It is an opportunity to feel the heal. Catharsis and regeneration are real benefits. Believe in the physics of prayer and on the wings of spiritual grace, one can overcome virtual or actual reality of the phenomenon called bandh.
July 8, 2010 at 2:09 AM
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