It is an open secret that Kerala is no more the God’s Own Land as claimed by the promoters of the State’s tourism potential. Over the last two decades, the State has degenerated into Devil’s Own Paradise if the words of social scientists and activists are to be believed. Thursday’s hartal is one of the few reasons which played significant role in making the State a difficult place to live.
According to K P Sasikala, president, Sabarimala Action Committee, who called for Thursday’s hartal, the year 2018 has seen many close downs and one more hartal would not make any difference to the lives of the people.
Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of the Opposition and former President of the Congress said that the month of December 2018 saw three or four hartals, all in the name of Sabarimala and this does not augur well for the State.
Hartals and bundhs have become a part and parcel of the daily life in Kerala. It is difficult to point out a month in which there were no hartals. People in Kerala have started enjoying the hartals. “The moment the political parties call for hartals, they stock the kitchen with meat, other commodities and of course sufficient bottles of spirit. Hartals are occasions of celebrations,” said Subramanian Sasidharan, a businessman based in Perumbavoor. He said it was not with joy he was summing up the scenario. “When you are left with no alternatives, what else you will do? It is the daily wage earners who bear the brunt,” pointed out Sasidharan.
Though described as a barbaric act, forcing people to stay away from work and bring normal life to a standstill, hartals have become the easiest tool for political and apolitical outfits to make their statements heard by the authorities. The year 2018 saw Kerala shutting itself down 97 times, which means that there were 97 hartals. The year 2016 was no better. There were 120 hartals in Kerala in 2016.
M M Hassan, former president of the Congress in Kerla, had staged a one-day fast in 2016 at Thiruvananathapuram against the frequent hartals. But the same Hassan was the person who gave for a hartal in 2017 for some reason. Interestingly, the CPI-M and the Congress would rub shoulders on January 8 and 9 to make the all-India hartal (48-hour long shut down ) a major success. The reason for next week’s hartal? No prizes for guessing. Anti-people policies of the Narendra Modi-led government!
The 24X7 entertainment channels, booze and the combination of paratha and beef may be an “exhilarating experience” to some. But for hundreds of thousands of immigrant Bengali and Assamese workers toiling in the State as casual labourers , it is a major setback as they stand to loss Rs 1000 per person because of these shut downs. Residents in Kerala have started asking the organisers of hartals and bundhs to organise the shut-downs either n Fridays or Mondays. “These would help us to get an extended week-end. The shut-downs in the middle of the week upset our travel programmes,” said Suresh Kumar, an auditor in Kochi. He is demanding people-friendly hartals.