Prof Javed Mughal
To achieve our mortal ends, we have developed an obnoxious habit of proceeding to strikes, bandhs or some other means having crippling impact on the health of this country at a stage when she is passing through a very critical state of affairs. One minute bandh or strike can render the loss of thousands of crores to the nation but we, despite calling ourselves true Indians, have never realized it simply because we are slave to the dictates of selfishness at the cost of the interest of nation. Once an Indian returned from the UK and, when asked by one of his friends in India to compare and contrast the moral and national character of the Britishers and that of Indians, he replied, “In England I have seen the people using their personal assets to the collective benefit of society to the extent that an Englander is always ready to dislodge the bricks of his own house and use them to construct a public resort whereas in India the situation is quite on the contrary.” The matter to be surprised about is that even then we call ourselves ‘True Indians’. In India the connotation of Patriotism or Nationalism has undergone a reverse change after Independence when the destiny of this poor nation was handed over to the native political vampires who sucked the blood of their motherland ruthlessly. By taking a resort to strikes, where official work is suspended, cause not only the scathing inconvenience to the poor public but cause practical harm to the country itself and the elements, involved in such subversive activities, cease to be the true Indians and deserve to be declared anti-national calling for stringent punishment. How deplorable is the mentality of the Strikers to become categorically selfish at the cost of the collective well-being, instead of changing the system from the grass-root level, enlightening the masses about the incompetence of the extant governments, and convince them to oust the system that is not fair to them. I know that the strikers will not do so because it demands for great efforts and they want to adopt a cut-short to the attainment of their trivial gains.
The strikers or protesters bother least about the interests of those who suffer badly due to their selfish attitude. This is, indeed, unfortunate. I lose my senses when I realize that the whole generation in Kashmir has grown up under the shadow of bandhs and strikes called by the hardliners. What has become a matter of concern is the local bandh, which covers a particular district or a limited area. These local bandhs are gaining momentum, with some organizations calling such bandhs every other day, sometimes over trivial issues. Continuous bandh in Kashmir for about four months in response to the call of Hurriyat leaders, sometimes ago, have not only damaged the system economically but also left the career of thousands of students at stake.
The students who could not attend the schools for months together smelled their future in doldrums. Who is responsible for the spoilage of their precious time? Who will pay for the loss that these mealy-mouthed students had to bear in examinations simply because they could not make preparations for the same because of remaining away from schools for months together? Did the Hardliners think even a little about the youth struggling for their ‘Tomorrow’? Did they bother about the loss of business class and the labour class who have to work from morning till evening to keep their pot boiling and subsist their families? They are accountable to the common sufferers and stake-holders of Kashmir and time is about to come when they have to answer to one and all in the valley. It all happened as result of a planned and deliberate conspiracy of a few selfish souls on the soil of Kashmir. Whatever is happening now-a-days in the valley is leaving a degrading effect on the all over scenario of Kashmir. I feel everyone who acts contrary to the interests of the nation whether he is a teacher or a lawyer or shopkeeper is an unwanted component of the system and hence deserves either to be set in order or to be dumped behind the bar. The market observing ‘Bandh’, the customers stand subjected to the hard times; the doctors being on strike, the patients suffer badly and the lawyers being on the protest, the poor clients beat their heads against the walls and rub their hands. This is height of inclemency and ethical degradation. Why to go for all this non-sense after all? Don’t we have some other means to rail-up the system? Our constitution places its people at the top and empowers them to pull down the system in elections if it is not functioning well. But we don’t do that simply because during elections we fall a prey to the ills of nepotism, favoritism and several other petty considerations and directly or indirectly we create the miasmic system. Very recently the Bar Associations in all over the country proceeded on strike and their stance, for no bigger cause, culminated into the emergence of unremitting sufferings of many clients. I found most of the clients in Jammu and Kashmir High Court quite crest fallen and dejected because their cases were being adjourned sine die by the honourable judges in the event of the non-availability of the Defence Counsels concerned. At least the privately paid lawyers should have no right to go for strikes at the cost of those clients who have paid handsome amounts of money for the timely disposal of their cases. Point to be considered is that if the government impinges the rights of Advocates, the later should initiate some legal action against it. Their resort to strike is not going to make any big difference to the government.
It rather adversely affects the poor clients who are otherwise waiting since long for justice. Most of the thankless souls feel that the best way to draw the government’s attention towards their grievances or to protest against any move of the government is to call a bandh, strike or taking out procession in the streets. To strike silently in a civilized way or to come on the streets shouting and voicing anti-government slogans creating noise pollution is all the same for me because in both the gestures and styles of protesting is hidden a big loss of the country. Bandhs are a huge blow to the State’s economy. This apart, normal life is thrown out of gear by these bandhs. Educational institutions are closed down and exams get postponed. In a crux, this strike-culture goes against the very democratic fabric of our country. People are often heard cribbing about these frequent bandh calls but they are not willing to take a step forward towards ending this bandh or strike culture. The judiciary has always taken a tough stand against such moves by the govt. officials or private organizations. In 1997, the Kerala High Court ruled in a landmark judgment that forced bandhs were illegal. Let me go a step further to say that even peaceful and willing bandhs are also harmful. By cutting both the ways, the nation is propelled into the abyss of multi-dimensional crisis.
The decision was upheld in 1998 by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the then Chief Justice of India J S Verma. Again in 2010 one of the High Courts of India declared bandhs “illegal and unconstitutional” as these violate the fundamental right of citizens. But political parties and organizations continue to call for bandhs, disrupting public life and trampling the fundamental rights of citizens. The State Governments also refrain from taking suo moto action against such elements as it does not want to rub off any organization the bad way for the reason best known to them. The Governments of all states as well as the central power-house must try to understand the implicit dangers of these strikes by the responsible members of the system and enact some stringent law to stem the tide of this melodrama if, at all, the state and national mechanisms are serious about the well being of the common people. By not coming up with a strategic solution to the problem, the governments are in a way, encouraging these bands of strikers. The government should seriously think about those who do not attend offices during the strikes and should subject them to the formula of ‘No Work no Pay’. Otherwise a majority of Indian employees do not deliver good to the society but even then they enjoy instead of being sacked with immediate effect.
To make the matters worse, they take extra latitude to call strikes bringing the official functioning to a stalemate for days together just to grind their axe. This is height of selfishness. Strikes by doctors, lawyers, teachers or any other segment of the system is, in fact, a heinous crime and should be curbed with the rod of iron. The government should be keen on good governance and not exempt itself of any responsibility to counter this culture. Most importantly, organizations should realize that a 24-hour or a 72-hour bandh can never be a solution to their problems. It, on the contrary, creates more hurdles on the way of this developing nation which needs our loyalty on the practical lines. Mere lip-patriotism and bare slogans are not going to give anything solid to this country already suffering due to our incompetence, veiled disloyalty and unethical attitude.
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