Another Hartal

Kerala witnessed one more Hartal on Tuesday, which was "successful" i the sense that hardly any vehicle plied on the road and almost all the shops were closed! But what have the organisers gained? Do they think that they could gather some sympathy for their colleague who was murdered or the entire population of the state had whole heartedly welcomed their call for Hartal? I am sure NEITHER.

The unexpected Hartal had only put the plans of many people into a disarray. And the visuals shown in many news channels were evident enough for the muscle strength of the organisers for making the hartal a success. At many places, violence was unleashed, it is reported. One visual in almost all channels showed the workers destroying the fruits in a shop and beating the worker in the shop severely. No law enforcing persons were seen in the near vicinity! Has the government thought it fit to remain as a mute spectator to such hooliganism in the rare hope that the organisers will gain negative publicity?

Does not the elected government of the state have a responsibility to give protection to the life and property of its citizens? Why is the police strictly instructed to book the culprits immediately when such violence takes place? As the people indulged in such activities could be identified from the visuals available will the police and the government  take them into custody  at least at the end of the day? And what happened to the High Court order for recovering the loss from the organisers of such hartals? Will the government implement it in the right earnest? Or is it that they will brush aside all such cases under the "political cases" category?

The "Say No to Hartal" had conducted a seminar at Ernakulam on the topic recently where leaders of various political parties and other organisers had vaxed eloquently against this practice, but none except the volunteers of "Say NO to hartal" were seen on the roads on Tuesday. Neither anybody had even issued a statement condemning the Hartal call.

At the same time I condemn in the strongest words, the brutal murder of the person at Kannur and urge the Government to speed up the investigation and bring the culprit to book and get them required punishment immediately. 

I hope better sense will prevail over all those concerned in the State for stopping such murders in the name of politics and also the Hartal calls which will inconvenience the general public