Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Dec 16, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Dec 16, 2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
Opinion
-
Politics Columns - Impressions `Hartal tourism' Anupama. R
It is most unlikely that you will find a hartal mentioned in one of those glossy travel brochures describing Kerala. But they have become part of the Kerala experience. So much so that one is tempted to suggest: Develop a `hartal tourism' package for visitors to the State! Bandhs are banned, thanks to the Supreme Court and High Court rulings, but no thanks to all the political parties and "activists", who call for hartals. In the last six years alone, there have been over 150 hartals in the State, according to a Mathrubhumi report (August 3), causing much inconvenience to the public and financial losses to industry and the economy. The dictionary defines it as stoppage of work in protest or boycott; but in Kerala, a hartal is as unnerving as a bandh. Vehicles stay off the roads, public transport buses do not operate and people are forced to stay home for fear of outbreak of violence. Recently, a businessman from Chennai was exasperated to discover that a hartal had scuttled his business plans in Thiruvananthapuram, yet again. As most "protests" are announced out of the blue, there is little time for planning and travellers are left in the lurch. In Kannur district, for instance, a hartal is almost like a curfew. Incidentally, the region also has the unfortunate distinction of having the maximum number of hartals in Kerala — 75 in the last six years. More troubling is the fact that several people have been badly hurt during hartals and other such demonstrations. In March, a writ petition was filed in the Kerala High Court seeking to declare holding of hartals as unconstitutional. The petition filed by the International Society for Preservation of Human Rights and Rule of Law, pointed out that the Supreme Court had declared that calling for bandh was violative of the fundamental rights of the citizen. The same principles were applicable to hartal as well. Therefore, calling for hartals was violative of Articles 14 (equality before law) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. According to newspaper reports, this year hartals have caused the State an estimated loss of more than Rs 10 crore. The destruction of public property and other acts of violence are the other undesirable results of such demonstrations. Despite widespread public opinion against hartals, why are no steps taken to curb these demonstrations that violate the basic principles of individual freedom? (The author is a freelance writer based in Thiruvananthapuram.)
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|