Hartals & the people of Kerala
Hartals have become a regular affair for keralites. Atleast once in a week, any of the umpteen political parties will call for a hartal, citing the usual "anti-people rule of government" as a reason. We've grown used to it that we take lots of preparations to celebrate this unexpected holiday.
Amidst all this stands tall Pulluvazhi, a small village near perumbavoor, where the day to day life goes on as usual even on hartal days. The people of this village have united & decided to carry on with their day to day life even on hartal days. After initial opposition, the political have also surrendered to the iron will of the villagers. This is an important lesson for all Keralites, who submit meekly to hartal calls even from 2 member parties. What can the parties do if all the shopkeepers open their shops & all the vehicles come out on the road.
The above said scenario may be dismissed as impossible by most of you. But there are ways. The media should stop reporting the hartal calls of every party. If the papers & channels don't report it, how are the people gonna know that a hartal is announced that day. This will lead to a complete failure of the hartal. But the media should strictly take this stand as they have a moral commitment to the readers. Initially, there might be resistance, but it will surely die down. Also, the vyapari vyavasayi ekopana samithi can tell all shop owners to work as usual, which will help in a bigger way in the fight against hartals.
The hartals are having an adverse effect on our already dented economy. We shouldn't allow this to continue unchecked. So lets join our hands in this fight to save our state.
Your crusader, Praveen