[honeybee]

With the Mumbai highcourt having slapped a fine of Rs. 20 lakhs on the Shiv Sena - BJP alliance for calling a Mumbai Bandh a few years back, most political parties refrain from calling a bandh, at least openly. Also I haven't come across any reports where private vehicles were forcibly turned around. Mumbai being what it is, you can also expect the police presence along the main arteries even during normal days.

[drmohitg]

This is the sorry state of affairs prevalent in each and every city these days. I remember a couple of months back the BJP had staged a rally in Delhi to protest against some thing. This ofcourse led to a huge traffic jam and for the first time I saw general normal people stuck in the Jam getting out and shouting at the people protesting to buzz off and clear the road. There was an arguement and I am not too sure which side finally relented.

But generally speaking I would not advise arguing with these miscreants. They have no value for the law or your life and are out there for the petty cash, booze that they might be getting at the end of the day. Also the fact that they get the right to do whatever they please like without any fear of the police. Most are criminally oriented and would not think twice before picking up a fight. So its always better to play the coward and get away from such ugly scenes before you end up teasing his ego. You had a lucky escape. I am more worried about the poor guy who was behind you . They would have surely been more irrational in dealing with him/her.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

But generally speaking I would not advise arguing with these miscreants. They have no value for the law or your life and are out there for the petty cash, booze that they might be getting at the end of the day. Also the fact that they get the right to do whatever they please like without any fear of the police. Most are criminally oriented and would not think twice before picking up a fight. So its always better to play the coward and get away from such ugly scenes before you end up teasing his ego. You had a lucky escape. I am more worried about the poor guy who was behind you . They would have surely been more irrational in dealing with him/her.

For today, they were enforcing the BJP hartal, tomorrow the same goons will be out enforcing the Congress hartal.

Sanjeev, You were lucky once, never try this again, simply stay at home and enjoy the day, you have a reason not to go to work.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

For today, they were enforcing the BJP hartal, tomorrow the same goons will be out enforcing the Congress hartal.

Oh yea I totally agree. My reference to the other BJP hartal in Delhi was just an example. I was in no way pointing towards any one political party. They are all hooligans as far as I am concerned cutting across party lines.

[antorquetik]

Reminds me of the incident when Raj Kumar (famed kannada film actor) was kidnapped, the whole of Bangalore went berserk. I vividly remember a group of unscrupulous elements stopping vehicles on road, break either the headlamp/tail lamp/ or indicator and let them pass. People who resisted were in for double treatment, they broke all of it-tail lamps/ head lamps/ indicators.

Those low lives were enjoying what they were doing. I doubt if anyone of them have ever seen a single movie of Rajkumar!

[ajmat]

Well I was in TVM today for a wedding. We heard abotu the hartal on 24th and decided to attend since why should we ruin a special day by not being there. On further analysis:

1: The hartal was called for a silly reason - garbage collection issue
2: As per tradition, the banndh is tacked onto a holiday weekend

The wedding involved a major banking family - they were in touch with the CM and other politico's. We were instructed to put a marriage sticker on the screen and all will be okay.

In reality, some shops were open, limited vehicles which meant that the wedding went off smoothly

[highway_star]

There is a also a silver lining for petrol heads in these situations: Traffic free roads!

There was a bandh a couple of years back in Mumbai. My company had not declared a holiday so I decided to go to office to save a day of casual leave. I could see on TV that roads were deserted but not much violence. Ripping through the streets of Andheri in broad daylight was so much fun!

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
It was a very sad reading.
AFAIK the supreme court has held that the bandhs are an infringement of our fundamental rights.The court upheld the bombay high court judgement.
Unfortunately in India the politicians would see the government fail rather than the country succeed.Also they fritter away their energies on minor things that the major issues remain unsolved for decades.
Regards

[singhsid]

The real trouble behind these "hartals" stems from a very simple fact -> educated middle class folks do not step out to vote during elections and so are not a "vote bank" and therefore deserve to be stopped and "educated" by "party activists"

Standard disclaimer: No offence intended

[noopster]

I agree with sanjeev in principle. Nobody has any right to impose their ideology on me. I am a free citizen of a democratic country and am exercising my right and duty to go to work on a weekday. No disagreement there.

But too many things could have gone wrong in the scenario outlined by the poster. The speeding car may have hit someone, possibly an innocent. The goons who stopped him may have got aggravated and caused damage to property and life. As someone pointed out, it's possible those guys are locals and may be on the lookout for "revenge" for Sanjeev's impulsive action.

At the end of the day, it's just another day at work. My advice: next time don't try and argue with these fools. Just stay calm and non-confrontational, do as they say (which in this case would have been to turn around and drive back the way you came, then figure out a better way of reaching your destination). Trust me, these rowdies don't respect principles!

[souravc]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

The whole thing is just astonishing.

These guys are just trained to mechanically enforce bandhs and "teach" violators a lesson by their respective parties. They do not, cannot and will not "think" whether it's justified.

So, yes; you should have just stayed home. You just cannot reason with them saying you are a common man etc.

I remember there was a bandh in B'lore around the same time now 2 years ago when some leading actor had passed away. You know why there was a bandh? Apparently, the "people of B'lore" were so grief stricken that everyone flocked to the actor's residence and when the cops tried maintaining order, the people got annoyed that the cops weren't allowing them to pay their last respects and promptly resorted to vandalism. The chap who'd just passed away must be rolling in his grave!

It's best you either go in a convoy or work from home. Trying to be go about a good citizen and not letting these things affect your work is simply not worth the risk.

Worst part is - if you are indeed attacked, no one's gonna back you up. The party has enforced a bandh so in their eyes you are violating their order. And the cops wouldn't care because there was a bandh and you didn't adhere to it!

Sit and home and enjoy!

Couldn't agree more with you, its useless trying to reason out with the political goons - one never knows who they would choose to make an example out of to instil fear and enforce the bandh. I have seen enough of those incidents while growing up in West bengal

I think you are referring to the death of Raj Kumar and it was a flash strike /mob while we are out at work , I was that time in Bangalore and the experience was horrible .

Originally Posted by antorquetik

Reminds me of the incident when Raj Kumar (famed kannada film actor) was kidnapped, the whole of Bangalore went berserk. I vividly remember a group of unscrupulous elements stopping vehicles on road, break either the headlamp/tail lamp/ or indicator and let them pass. People who resisted were in for double treatment, they broke all of it-tail lamps/ head lamps/ indicators.

Those low lives were enjoying what they were doing. I doubt if anyone of them have ever seen a single movie of Rajkumar!

I remember that the mob was targetting tamils (just because Veerappan was) and vehicles with TN registration numbers and there I was a bong with a M800 which had TN registration numbers . I guess for the first time in my M800's life it was covered under vehicle cover.

[StarrySky]

Usually harthal timings are from 6am to 6pm. On harthal days I make sure that I reach office before 6am - of course it helps that I live only 7km away from office and the road to office usually sees some police presence on harthal days. I think it's better to lose a little sleep on one day than taking any risks driving during harthal.

My company requires X hours (avg) in office per week, so the up-side of harthal days is that I use the few extra hours I work for on the harthal day to leave office early on some other day (usually weekend)

[sumitkalindi]

I had been in similar situation, When a bandh was called in Kolkata, luckily I have a bike, so that day I had to go to office in my Bike, and Now the bombshell.
It was the first time in my life I Rode without Helmet, wit just a homely T shirt and shorts, and yes chappals, I was stopped, and my excuse was today being band and traffic free roads, I am practising how to ride bike. I was just allowed thru to brush up my skills. The idea was to convince them I am not going to work.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

of course it helps that I live only 7km away from office and the road to office usually sees some police presence on harthal days.

If the bandh has been called by the oppn party, there will a lot of police in every nook and corner and many preventive arrests, so generally goes off peacefully, but if the bandh is called by the ruling party or all parties, then this kind of harassment will always happen with or without police presence.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

If the bandh has been called by the oppn party, there will a lot of police in every nook and corner and many preventive arrests, so generally goes off peacefully, but if the bandh is called by the ruling party or all parties, then this kind of harassment will always happen with or without police presence.

Not really - in my experience. I have seen the same during Left-sponsored harthals in the last 2-3 years when the Left was in power in Kerala. In fact, my company operates the office shuttles as usual (around 8am) during harthal days. Of course, the company is in touch with the authorities before/during the harthal - so if they get the advice that the harthal may turn violent, then the company asks us to stay at home.