On my last blog post I talked about how Kerala is "God's Own Country". However this time I am disturbed to say that Kerala is also "Hartal's Own Country". Recently the state crossed it's 97th Hartal of 2018. These Hartals are a great hit on Kerala's economy and impacts the life of common man very badly.
Today, Malayalees see Hartals as the only solution for all problems ranging from rising Onion prices to death of an alcoholic man in Secretariat premises. What has happened to Malayalees?
It is true that everybody has the right to protest in this country. However, the problem arises when a protest is forced upon the whole population. People who have nothing to do with the Hartal and people who are actually against the cause of the Hartal are forced to remain at home. For a middle income family in the state, this is a huge burden. Citizens are forced to stay at home with all business enterprises closed.
Many PIL's have been filed at various judicial tiers, however, courts cannot ban Hartals, a mode of protest publicised by the father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi. But these politically driven Hartals are nothing similar to the Hartals conducted by Gandhi on the principle of non-violence. They mostly lead to stone pelting and public property destruction. Most malayalees are forced to sit at home in fear of these Political menaces.
In the state all is not grim whatsoever. Now many sections of the society are fighting to remain unaffected by Hartals. These include IT and Advertising. Also many newly formed organisations like Say No To Hartal Front are trying to educate people to distrupt these sort of unwanted hartals. These organisations give me hope.
