Bandhs : A Seize Within

Maisnam Bomcha *

Empty streets in Imphal City on account of bandh in September 2012 :: Pix - Bunti Phurailatpam

I have a nearly graphic memory of perhaps the first time I took part in a Bandh or to be more precise, being a part of a group of school going kids tasked by a few local elders to enforce a one day Manipur Bandh called by AMSU. On that morning more than three and half decades back, we gathered on a small bridge over a 'Khong' in our locality. We waited excitedly for nearly an hour to show our 'authority' before a middle aged man on a bicycle came along the deserted road. On being stopped and toldto turn back, he asked us a few questions on the business of Bandhs and its harms.

All of us were clueless about the matter and the man coolly proceeded on his cycle. We all felt angry on his defiance of something which wethought was of paramount importance to the betterment of the society and yet felt suddenly weakened by our absolute ignorance of the matter for which we all took to the streets without the knowledge of our parents. That day I made up my mind to be better prepared for those kinds of questions and was almost eager for a next Bandh to happen.

Those days Bandh were far in between and I don't remember ever joining another one though I participated in one or two odd rallies during my brief stay at Imphal College. During that period, momentousstudent movements, particularly the agitation against foreigners which spreads over from Assam happened in Manipur. Education as a whole was disturbed. But public life never came to a standstill for long periods.

Enter the 21stcentury;Bandhs have become a social pastime. Nothing is a more regular and common public fixture than Bandhs of various kinds; one day Bandhs, indefinite Bandhs and even flash Bandhs are on the social fare. South East Asia, particularly our own India, and the immediate neighbour Nepal is infamous for a high incidence of Bandhs. At its peak, in 2009 Nepal witnessed as many as 1200 Bandhs. But perhaps nowhere on the globe can one ever see a Bandh lasting for more than 100 days for which Manipur has the inglorious records of. Living aside the massive public loss, it would be an interesting piece of data to analysis the numbers of Bandhs Manipur witnessed in the past decade. Even more shocking would be a compilation of the reasons for which the Bandhs had been called for.

Bandhs are a democratic means of public protest against wrongs committed which angers and adverselyaffects the whole public at large or a section of the public. It has been used as a popular, simple yet effective tool favoured by political organisations / parties, civil bodies or a particular section of the population to achieve a certain demand or in protest against perceived wrongs committed. As it affects the public life, a legitimate Bandh should have the support of the majority of the public. The reason of protest should be public in nature and more importantly, for it to be effective; it should be resorted to as a last means. There are other forms of public protests such as rallies, Dharnas, public denouncements which send a similar message of protest but affects public life less.

How many Bandhs and how frequently these Bandhs is to be tolerated? Were the issues on which these had been called so frequently worth the shut- downs and the accompanying loss and hardships? In a place like Manipur, with such frequent Bandhs, for the majority of the population, it's not even a question of hardships; but that of plain survival. Are we aware or more accurately, care to admit that the intended targets of the Bandhs are least affected? They only get increasingly amused. Do the Bandh- happy groups realise that sheer repetitiveness has rendered Bandhs nearly impotent?

The government and the general public simply do not care for the cause these have been called; what the public resent is the disturbances they cause nearly on a monthly basis. No one seems to seriously consider the magnitude of the miseries Bandhs create for the poor. What good is a movement if it causes more sufferings than the intended wellbeing or justice it sets out to bring? Perhaps there is no bigger injustice than denying a square meal to a hungry stomach.

Indeed there are times when the end result; improving the lot of the people, justifies sufferings and hardships. There are times when consideration of comforts or more serious issues are required to be necessarily sacrificed for a common goal, collective justice. But collective suffering for individual or limited causes defy all logic.Everyone in their right minds do feel and care for injustice to single individuals. Frustration and anger; even over wrongs which do not directly affect the society as a whole is felt very strongly by all sections. Our social fabric is still strong: sense of morality and ways of living together as a single social unit is not lost yet. However Bandh is not the answer, not a social elixir for all social ailments.

Proliferation of causes deemed worthy for forms of protest such as Bandhs is pushing important and common causes to the back burner. If another call for a Bandh over the mysteriously forgotten issue of ILP is raised in the near future, it is not likely that it gets the response it deserves. The significance of Bandhs or if at all, it makes any difference; Indefinite Bandhs, have been lost in the face of the farce that are Bandhs today in Manipur. Those calling for indefinite shut-downs may well be reminded that Manipur, as a whole, do no longer respect them irrespective of their place of origin: the valley or the Hills.

Strangely, only a few open murmurs are heard against Bandhs. If it is coercion or fear of being termed anti-socials, it is understandable. On the other hand there is an apparent acceptance of the devil; a sense of getting used to it. Fear can be overcome. Passive surrender to the devil is dangerous.Every protest against a bad establishment may be good, but every protest without majority sanction can be counter- productive.

In January 2011, during the run-up to the last Assembly Polls, the Hon'ble Home Minister Mr Gaikhangam had promised an anti Bandh legislation in the new Assembly. At that time Manipur had just recovered from a Bandh, called by the Hill people which lasted for more than a record 100 days. That promise has so far not been kept by the Congress party. It is now felt that, ostensibly the promise was to woo the voters living in the plains.

In many other states of the country also anti Bandh laws have been promised by the ruling and prospective parties apparently for the same reason. In 2004 the Supreme Court had fined the BJP heavily for calling a Bharat Bandh and disrupting public life. Earlier the apex court had opined to term all Bandhs unconstitutional. But the government has so far not brought the required legislation.

Elsewhere, in Nepal, in 2010, an open public opposition to Bandhs was witnessed for the first time when hundreds of motorcyclist carrying play cards with slogans opposing a Bandh called by a strong section of the Nepali population; took to the streets. In another instance of a strong show of opposition ending Bandhs; an indefinite Bandh called by the powerful United Communist Party of Nepal ended just after 6 days when thousands of people gathered at the Central Square in Kathmandu to oppose it.

In the absence of either a government measure or a public opposition, and with Bandhs called at the drop of a hat; strife torn Manipur is living in a near state of anarchy. The hardest hit is the poor who constitute the majority but with a voice least heard.A cruel paradox is the silence of the opinion makers who construe raising a voice as anti-social even when seized of the hard fact that frequent Bandhs is anti-social at its worst. In most of the cases, select groups are riding on the strength of the gullible majority. As gullible and clueless as I was, those scores of years back, trying to obey people who seemed so radical and heroic.

A rough estimate of the loss incurred in the states of Maharastra, Gujrat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi during the recent Bharat Bandh called by the NDA against price rise was a whopping 13,000 crores. Given the widely accepted notion of economic injustice as being the worst form of exploitation and the pathetic economic health of the state, I am increasingly inclined to accept an extreme sounding comment which says that Banndhs are a form of social terrorism.