The Kochi Metro Rail, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate on Saturday, is a perfect example of how big Kerala’s dreams about development are. However, when it comes to protests, most political parties seem to be pursuing a regressive path. In the 167 days of the current year, the State had seen 66 shutdowns that disrupt every vital sector of normal life and tend to discourage investors as per reports based on police estimates.
The fact is that almost no party in Kerala is averse to the idea of calling for shutdown (hartal) though it used to be a tool of protest mainly of the parties that took extreme positions several years ago.
“Nowadays, even ‘broomstick’ (insignificant) outfits succeed in enforcing shutdowns,” says Wilson KJ, a Thrissur-based anti-hartal campaigner.
According to economic observers, a day-long, State-wide shutdown can cause a loss of at least Rs 300 crore to the State as such in various ways and the loss of revenue to trade, industry, commerce, etc can run into more than such amount. In its present financial situation, such losses are unbearable to the State, they pointed out.
Of the 66 hartals the State has seen this year, only one was observed State-wide but that does not lessen the seriousness of the discomforts this particular form of protest causes to social life and economy. All the 14 districts in the State, except Malappuram, had witnessed district-wide shutdowns during the period. Altogether there were 15 district-wide shutdowns in 167 days.
“It is very disturbing to see responsible political parties, committed to ensure development, enforcing shutdowns in the name of paltry issues,” said Azghar AK, an IT engineer who had been campaigning against hartals for several years. “Frequent hartals are sure to give a negative image of the State to investors,” he said.
The left, particularly the CPI(M), which used to be in the forefront of enforcing hartals in Kerala till a few years ago, had not been much enthusiastic about that this year. The CPI(M)-led lDF, now in power in the State, had sponsored only five hartals. The left had sponsored no State-wide shutdown and had sponsored only two district-wide hartals - in Alappuzha and Kozhikode.
All the shutdowns, except the one held State-wide and 15 in district levels, were observed on regional basis — in panchayat, municipal, taluk and Constituency areas — and most of them were over issues relevant to particular areas. The last shutdown was observed on Friday in Guruvayur, Thrissur in protest against the shifting of a liquor vending centre to a particular locality.
In the forefront of sponsoring hartals in Kerala this year has been the BJP, which had called for 25 shutdowns in the State, district and regional levels, as per police’s claims. Some of these hartals were in protest against the violence the CPI(M) had allegedly been unleashing against BJP-RSS workers in districts like Kannur, Kozhikode and Palakkad.
Despite the fact that MM Hassan, the current State president of the Congress, had once staged a Satyagraha calling for an end to hartals and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had lobbied for a law for controlling the particular form of protest, the Opposition UDF it leads is in the second place in sponsoring shutdowns.
Traders are the real victims of shutdowns but even they had sponsored nine regional hartals in Kerala this year.