There is a fundamental difference between Gandhiji's concept of a bandh and what exists today:
1. That bandh was voluntary, not forced
2. That bandh was non-violent, not the stone throwing, knife wielding variety
3. That bandh caused economic damage to the opponent, not oneself
However, given that the bandh will not easily go away, I would like to suggest the appointment of a Minister of Bandh, to manage bandhs as and when they happen. In addition to the usual ministerial work, such as evading taxes, this Minister would be responsible for:
- explaining to foreigners that the word is pronounced bandh, and not boondh, even if it is sometimes spelt as bundh
- banning the usage of the confusing "bundh" spelling altogether
- negotiating bandh dates to not overlap with important government functions, or the wedding of the Chief Minister's daughter
- ensuring that essential services such as hospital emergency treatment are only available to those with "source"
- providing heavy police protection for all the glass buildings hosting MNCs (Multi National Corps), provided they have been regularly paying kickbacks
- ensuring that we have bandhs regularly - typically one to represent each side of each cause
1 comment:
I don't totally agree to the concept of Ministry. Probably it will become another source of income for many others.
Rather I think it should be a committee which is directly under control of CM. It should have representatives from many of the unions (private labor, government org) and not to forget about those "Gundaas" which I think are the root cause of today's bandh.
If they are given the responsibility of fighting against bandh violence (obviously coordinating with Police force) then it should be a different story. Probably after this there won't be people left to encourage bandh violence :-)
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