No punishment can stop hartals

Pay Rs 10 lakh, call for a hartal and destroy property worth Rs crore and waste priceless man hours. This may turn to be true as Kerala law commission has suggested that organizations in Kerala calling for a hartal, or strike, without the government’s permission may have to pay a Rs10 lakh fine or its leaders would face up to three years in prison and they are advocating for shaping this into law. In 2007, Left-ruled Kerala saw more than 200 hartals, most of them political. So much so that leaders with following of only their family members are calling shots in hartal sphere.