Extended from:
FEBRUARY 2013 GENERAL STRIKE OR THE ‘BHARAT BANDH’: THE UNCIVIL CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE (I)
http://severallyalone.blogspot.in/2013/02/february-2013-general-strike-or-bharat.html
A friend
whose office was in Noida, called me up on the first day of the ‘Bandh’.
Panicked, he informed me the glass façade of his office was broken, many cars
in the parking lot were damaged and the office furniture was thrown out and
some of it burnt. The ‘Bandh’ guys had threatened to come back again if the
office was not closed to support the general strike.
As usual, the
call to the police for help proved to be a futile exercise. Instead of
registering the complaint and coming for help, the policeman on the phone said
the force was helpless as there were so many cases of violence and advised to
close down the office.
Many of the
corporate honchos and the trading class businessmen, who had decided to remain
open on the days of the general strike, closed down their operations on the
day-2 of the ‘Bharat Bandh’. My friend’s office was one among them.
Incidentally, it was not due to the fear of harm to the employees but to the
property that drove them to day-2 shut down.
The two-day
‘Bharat Bandh’ evoked a mixed response as reported. It was successful in states
like Kerala or Tripura where the Left parties have strong presence (most of the
trade unions follow the Left ideology). In West Bengal,
the plains saw a complete ‘Bandh’ while the hills remained open.
Elsewhere, it
was varying in terms of success. Banks didn’t function at all as the strike was
supported by the unions of the bank employees. Many state transport unions as
well as the auto unions of Delhi
and Mumbai had also called strikes or had decided to participate in the ‘Bharat
Bandh’. Government offices and other establishments saw less attendance due to
the poor public transportation.
Had it been
this (peaceful protests where people who participated had volunteered for the
‘Bandh’), this could have been indeed called a success.
But the
‘Bandh’ saw many incidents of violence, arson, loot and damage to property.
Factories were attacked. People not conforming to the idea of the ‘Bandh’ met
with bloody treatment. In West Bengal, the
ruling TMC party workers chopped off the ear of a panchayat worker who did not
come to the office on day-1 of the ‘Bandh’.
To crown the
success in their ‘terms’ the Left parties warned of a bigger general strike if
the demands were not met immediately.
It was akin
to endorse the violence during the ‘Bandh’. It was not what the Mahatma had
proposed.
To continue..