SunCorp

Bandh and hartal have no place in a democracy

   It’s only a month since the Supreme Court took the Tamil Nadu government to task for its stance favouring a bandh in the state. Early this week, the chief minister, transport minister and a few bureaucrats were issued contempt notices by the court to explain their conduct. Bandhs, according to the apex court, are a no-no in a democracy. But the message seems to be lost on our politicians. West Bengal has seen two hartals on two consecutive days last week, the first one called by SUCI and the next by Trinamul Congress. In Kerala, political parties have been competing to call hartals. The state has had 30 hartals this year, including two in the last one week. Opposition parties in Bihar forced a bandh in the state on Friday.
    So, how do these parties escape the wrath of law despite merrily violating the spirit of the Supreme Court order? One, no one calls a bandh these days, they declare a hartal. Two, they claim that people voluntarily participate in the shutdown. But bandh and hartal are the same in practice and political parties hold out the threat of violence to keep people off the roads and shut down shops and offices. Courts have indeed seen through this ploy but, clearly, more needs to be done.
    A bandh is not the same as a strike called by a labour union. When a union ballots for industrial action, it is the particular site of action, say the factory concerned, which is affected, whereas a general strike threatens a total shutdown of society. The general strike was invented in the late 19th century as a revolutionary tool to overthrow existing social and political orders. There is no role for such action in a liberal democracy where numerous platforms are available under the Constitution to debate public causes and express dissent.
    In extreme situations, when the democratic order itself is suspended by a government in power, political parties could resort to bandhs. That is certainly not the case in West Bengal, Kerala and Bihar. And, it is all the more ridiculous for parties that hold office to call hartals. Who do they intend to overthrow? Is their elected government the target? A general strike by a party in office is tantamount to declaring its inability to govern. You can’t eat your cake and have it too.