Bandh : The (un)Civil Disobedience

For those of you who don’t know the word Bandh, its derived from the Hindi word ‘closed’.What was probably conceived as an instrument of civil disobedience to keep govt atrocities at bay,has over the decades it has taken the ugly mask of mass unrest,peaceful protest has been replace by burning tyres & smashing windshields,atrocities being meated out at hands of hypocritic unions bringing the everyday humdum to a standstill.These agonizing trend ruptures the wheel of life & questions the very foundation of Civilization.Roads are blocked,tyres and effigies are burned at cross roads at the roar of slogans,shutters are pulled down & road transport unions call it a holiday by their self bestowed rights bringing the citylife to a standstill.The noisy streets are engulfed by an eerie of silence.The magnum of these ‘Bandhs’ extend from peaceful rallies to a complete shutdown of the commercial sector…. Including forceful pulling down of shop shutters,burning tyres,throwing stones at windshields of wheels that dare to dawn the roads…thus painting a canvas with barbaric strokes. South Asia witnesses strings of these Bandhs,in the name of political protests .The muttiparty political parties use this as a stage to realize their vested interests with an army of uneducated destitute who are duped by a illustrious speech and an occasional free-meal to extend their support to realize these Bandhs.Kolkata, where I spend the last score of days,is undergoing radical changes after a 19(approx. am not sure of the exact number..this is what my cousin who is busy over the phone cares to tell me) year old government was replaced,and where there is a change,protests are inevitable & one can witness quite a few ‘mild’ bandhs (though the dailys reported that the magnum being more prominent in the surrounding district towns),but the very idea that in times when most of us live our lives o the edge there are people who extend their support to these causes which are mere ploys of of voracious political leaders than being aimed at social welfare.Various NGOs,and youth awareness wings are coming forward to urge the en-masse to join hands to say NO to the bandhs.The globe is spinning faster in tune of global developments,these archaic and barbaric acts need to be contained,all of us are in a race to get a covetous position under the sun ,but as we run this race we need to make sure that the soil we are running one is firm enough.We live in a democratic republican with a provision for constitutional amendments, so it calls for an educated and holistic approach to realize one’s anguish with the government(if any) and not the dire resort of civil disobedience…