Monday, October 01, 2007

Voluntary Strike / Bandh ?

AIADMK, the main opposition party may have scored a political victory by getting the Supreme Court to stop the Bandh called for today by the DMK led ruling coalition in Tamil Nadu. But, the master politician he is, Mr. Karunanidhi seem to have won this round on the ground. He quickly morphed the Bandh call in to a hunger strike while not really withdrawing the earlier call for a general strike. And, he goes a step further is calling the people of Tamil Nadu to volunteerily observe general shutdown. What is unsaid is that, you better observe the strike and stay indoors or else our muscle will force you to.

“I respect people's decision more than any court's verdict,”

Since the Supreme Court intervened only at the last minute, several offices and establishments have already declared holiday on Oct 1, 07. So, in effect, there is an unofficial bandh underway in Tamil Nadu right now. The traffic along my usual 2km commute to work was very thin and almost all shops were closed. And, the generally bustling office wore an almost deserted look with many people opting to work out of home or just take the day off. (We are officially working this Saturday Oct 6, 07 in lieu of today).

So, while the politicians and the judiciary tries to sort this out, the unofficial Bandh currently underway in Tamil Nadu would have hurt scores of people and the economy.

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