31st December, 2008 : Chittorgarh witnesses a bandh

What do you do when some stranger asks you to stop consuming your staple diet – whatever it may be – with immediate effect? And then go on trumpeting that you are the most cruel animal on earth.

This is exactly the situation in Chittorgarh district where India’s national protectors – the saffron outfits – asked nomads to stop eating beef to protect cows – which otherwise were dying of hunger and carelessness.

And when they protested against this diktat, a clash took place where 15 people were injured. And the saffron outfits gave a call for bandh. Fortunately the bandh did not have any response.

Well, next time if the nomads ask these saffron outfits to stop eating dal and rice because they worship these commodities, will they do it?

29th December, 2008 - Hartal ridden Kerala continues it tirade

How many murders take place in India? Do we have bandhs for each of those murders? If the logic of United Democratic Front has its way, this is possible. The UDF has called for a hartal in Neyyattinkara town following the death of the manager of a guest house there. The police said Bhuvananchandran, 53, had an altercation with Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers over parking of a vehicle inside the guest house earlier in the day. He was allegedly assaulted. The body was found hanging from a ceiling fan inside the guest house. See the connection? He had an altercation with Communists.

29th December, 2008 - Why not end the year with a bandh

Now there is a bandh even on dialogues which means talks across the table is not feasible but solutions can only be found by violence. This seems to be the message of a state wide bandh convened by Jana Chetna against the tripartite dialogue on the Darjeeling imbroglio in north Bengal.

“We want the Centre and the state government to clarify their stand on the foreigners’ issue first before venturing for the talks on the sensitive issue. The aliens among the Nepalese community must be screened from the genuine Indian citizens and only then a rightful dialogue can commence on the vexed issue,” Jana Chetana leader in Siliguri, Mr Mridul Chakravarty said.

Well, why not end and begin a year with bandh.

25th December, 2008 : UP under bandh cloud

It is any body’s guess what an opposition party will do if they get such a juicy matter on a platter. The Samajwadi Party just did that - call for statewide bandh.

This after a ruling Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) legislator was named in a police case for lynching a government engineer.

BSP legislator Shekhar Tiwari was arrested near Kanpur in the evening after he and his supporters lynched M K Gupta, an engineer with the public works department (PWD), in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya district allegedly after he refused to pay extortion for Chief Minister Mayawati's birthday celebrations. She just completed her nursery and is celebrating her infancy. What a joke

23rd December, 2008 - Cooch Behar could be in bandh grip

Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party has called for an indefinite bandh call in Cooch Behar from 23 December. The GCDP has threatened an indefinite clampdown alleging police atrocity against its supporters.

But political parties reacted sharply at this call. The Trinamul Congress district secretary Mr Mihir Goswami said: “We know the police harass and torture people. If the cases brought against the GCDP men are false those should be withdrawn. No movement should be stopped by repression. The GCDP should review its bandh call too.”

23rd December 2008 : Traders in Pune observe bandh

Wholesale markets for foodgrains and grocery in Pune district will remain closed as part of a state-wide market bandh call to protest against the government's order on collection of levy from the buyers instead of farmers. The bandh call has been given by a consortium of 42 traders and merchants organisations,
The levy refers to a 30 per cent amount of the total labour charge collected by commission agents at the wholesale markets and deposited with the Mathadi Board, a state body for labour welfare. The amount is used for welfare schemes like provident fund, medical aid etc., for the workers in the market yards. So cut short one day in your Christmas shopping.

18th December, 2008: Can the year end without a Kerala bandh?

Why should an entire district suffer if a small time office of a party is attacked by a rival party? The answer is to take revenge the same way. But who will listen in Kerala, the bandh capital of the world. The CPM is observing a hartal in Shoranur to protest against the attack on its local committee office. Stones were pelted at the victory demonstration taken out by Janakiya Vikasana Samiti. The attack towards CPM local committee office is considered to be retaliation to that.

17th December, 2008 : Turn of Jalpaiguri for a bandh

Yet another 12-hours bandh was convened by the district Congress following a clash with CPI-M in Alipurduar on 28 November. Congress members alleged that police had failed to arrest the perpetrators of the violence within a time frame.
All the schools, collages and other institutions remained closed. The work at the offices and banks remained stalled and markets wore a desolate look. The train services were also disrupted owing to the bandh call. A true and well deserved democracy.

17th December, 2008 : Turn of Jalpaiguri for a bandh

Yet another 12-hours bandh was convened by the district Congress following a clash with CPI-M in Alipurduar on 28 November. Congress members alleged that police had failed to arrest the perpetrators of the violence within a time frame. All the schools, collages and other institutions remained closed. The work at the offices and banks remained stalled and markets wore a desolate look. The train services were also disrupted owing to the bandh call. A true and well deserved democracy.

17th December, 2008 : How about an year-end bandh?

As the year 2008 passes by, how can parties like JMM not call for yet another bandh? A 12-hour bandh is called by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Baraipada with a slew of demands like setting up of a government medical college and hospital, provision of BPL cards to all needy and eligible families, completion of broad gauge from Baripada to Bangiriposi and completion of Subranerekha irrigation project.

17th December, 2008 – Another Telangana bandh

When will this state come into force? The number of bandhs are not ending. Now Andhra Pradesh BJP unit is to support to a "state bandh' call given by the Forum for Intellectuals and teachers of Telangana region on December 17.

The attempt is to mount pressure on the state and central governments for creation of a separate statehood for backward Telangana region.

12th December, 2008 – TRS Bandh on for statehood

Old issue but new vigour. This is what the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is aiming as it has called for a bandh by various Telangana-based organisations in the region on December 12.
The bandh to be organised to protest against the delay in granting Statehood to Telangana should be an eye opener to the UPA government and the All India Congress Committee which have betrayed the people of Telangana after promising the separate State, said TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

11th December – Bandh time is here again in north east

Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP) has called for a 24-hour Dooars bandh on against the state forest official's alleged torching of adivasi huts at Birsamunda Basti under Malbazar police station in the Dooars on 4 December.

The shutdown has been convened demanding an immediate arrest of the forest beat officer concerned Mr Maite Biswakarma and his team, who had allegedly carried out the torching. The adivasis are also demanding adequate monetary compensation for the victim families. The ABAVP has also announced protest rallies across the Dooars at 2 p.m. tomorrow, laying siege to the forest offices there on 12 and 13 December and an indefinite Dooars-Terai shutdown from 15 December.

Balu, the savior of hartals and bandhs

The Supreme Court has called for tapes of Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, T R Baalu's speech, to decide whether he committed contempt of court or not. The Court has issued notices to two news channels, and also to their reporters and camerapersons to submit the original tapes of T R Baalu's speech on October 1, 2007 at Chennai during the Sethu Samudram bandh, according to news reports.

The Supreme Court is currently examining the contempt cases against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Union Minister Baalu and others. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) had filed a petition in the apex court for contempt action against six people, for violating Supreme Court orders which had banned the Sethu Samudram bandh.

7th December, 2008 : Bandh woes continue in Kerala

Communist Party of India (CPI) [who else] sponsored a dawn-to-dusk hartal, protesting against an attack on the party office in Adoor town.

The situation turned violent when a group of hartal-supporters tried to close the shops in the fish market.

The CPI office in Adoor town was attacked alleged by a group of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Students Federation of India (SFI) activists. The attack was in the backdrop of a tiff between activists attached to the All India Students Federation (AISF) and the SFI at Adoor Boys High School, earlier.