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.