Is the 'bandh' call justified?

Shutting shop

The government’s move to hike petrol prices last week has been met with such belligerence on behalf of the Indian public that serious repercussions are inevitable. And the opposition parties have cashed in on the prevailing sentiment by announcing a national bandh on May 31.

The City may shut shop for what some consider to be a valid reason, but the inconvenience that it will cause can’t be denied. Even while Bangaloreans are making frantic preparations to deal with the bandh, there remains the niggling doubt as to whether it will serve any purpose at all. Metrolife speaks to a few of them to find out.
Nikhil, an engineering student, has been hit quite badly by the spiked petrol prices. He travels around 20 kilometres per day on his bike, and admits that the new cost of fuel has created quite a dent in his wallet.

However, he remains doubtful about any positive outcome of Thursday’s bandh. “As students, this increase in prices has put us in such a state that it’s simply not affordable. But how will having a bandh make any difference? I feel that the government actually anticipated this bandh, and hyper-inflated the price of petrol — even if they do drop the prices by about Rs 2 per litre after Thursday, it won’t make much of a difference,” he says.

Although he doesn’t anticipate any serious disruptions in his daily life because of the bandh, he’s quick to add that this isn’t a reality for everyone. “My family owns a business and the bandh wouldn’t be good for us. There has to be another way to voice protest — people need to come together in a way that doesn’t inconvenience the public,” he insists.

While the bandh may shatter the daily routine of people who are dependent on public transport, Raghuram, a professional, says that those who drive to work aren’t spared either. “I still fear the protests that take place on the road. They’re almost always politically-motivated — a bunch of people are hired to block traffic and shout slogans.

More than a safety issue, it’s a nuisance; it’s simply a matter of the current government making a point against the centre and there are other ways to do that,” he complains.
His other issue with the bandh is that although many companies shut shop for the day, they often require their employees to compensate for that by working on weekends or holidays. “After all, they lose revenue for a day and they have to make up for that. But it can get rather inconvenient,” he adds.

Sneha, also a professional, is convinced of the futility of the bandh. “The people who have decided on this hike in petrol prices will bring it down when they intend to. I don’t think having a bandh will influence that decision,” she notes. However, she adds that there is a silver lining to the situation. “Sometimes I think that a bandh once a year is actually good. After all, at least for that one day, everyone in the family stays at home and spends time with each other,” she concludes.