Outlaw banda enforcement

Calling a banda (strike) is a democratic right. Enforcing a banda is not. The failure to distinguish between the two has degenerated this medium of protest to such a low here in the country that we have now reached a point where the government must seriously and immediately think of treating banda enforcement as a criminal act. Nothing less will deter goons and thugs from coming out to the streets to harass and harangue the public most of whom do not want anything, save carrying on with their everyday lives as peacefully as possible.



Bandas have always been announced at a sickening frequency here in the country. When the political parties signed a pledge last year not to resort to bandas during the ongoing Nepal Tourism Year, everyone heaved a sigh of relief but they have returned this month with a vengeance. Now, it almost seems like the banda-free months were just a lull before the storm. The situation is so bad now that the public most of the times is even not aware of the group calling the banda or the reason for it. But, honestly, we do not see a problem in this. This is a democratic country and everyone has the right to call a strike. Our objection is with the forceful and violent enforcement, which invariably happens. The logic is pretty simple: If an individual or a group has the right to call a banda, the public too has the right to or not to support it. Forcing them to observe a banda is against their right. The state must realize that no one can exercise his/her right by trampling upon someone else’s.



Against this background, we once again call the government to swiftly enact law that will treat banda as criminal offence. Plagued by this nonsensical culture, the southern Indian state of Kerala resorted to this measure more than a decade earlier. In 1997, the Kerala High Court declared that “the calling for a ‘bandh’ by any association, organisation or political party and the enforcing of that call by it is illegal and unconstitutional.” But there is a caveat here. Bandas continued to afflict Kerela even after the court ruling as they were promptly renamed as ‘hartals’ to get past the court order. So, as a follow-up to its 1997 verdict, the court in 2000 declared “that the enforcement of a ‘hartal’ call by force, intimidation, physical or mental coercion would amount to an unconstitutional act.´´ Despite this, sadly, shutdowns continue to cripple life in Kerela. The moral of the story: Let us embrace the move taken by the Kerela High Court but do it in such a way that no individual or group is able to work around it. Anti-social elements deserve nothing less!

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