K'taka Bundh for a reason, season and lifetime

The word Mahajan Report evokes 30 years of my memory. All these years I might have heard this phrase 'n' number of times. Have written news stories and analysis and have remained a silent victim of several Bandhs organised in its name and flame.

Time and again Karnataka is the target for various types of pinpricks from its neighbours Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra for one reason or the other. And the far off Union Government has never really loved Karnataka.

The people of Karnataka, Kannadigas, are essentially peace loving folks. Normally they keep silent and even love to sleep over burning issues. But once in a while they bounce back to register their unhappiness. Come tomorrow, Wednesday i.e., Oct 04, 2006, the state is observing protest from dawn to dusk against every apathy and insult it has swallowed.

This time the state is geared-up to protest for a reason, season and for a lifetime. Mehar chand Mahajan Report is in the news again. It's all about drawing specific territorial lines and solving border disputes between Karnataka and Maharashtra. The Mahajan Report was submitted in 1967. The Union Government had accepted the report too. But Maharashtra wrote to Supreme Court demanding removal of the body and arranging for a second postmortem.

However, political and bureaucratic tactics put together, last month Karnataka convened a make-shift Assembly Session in Belgaum (soon to be renamed as Belagavi). In a five day session, Karnataka Legislators shouted at themselves to shout against Maharashtra's pressurising tactics.

The ideas of calling for another bandh, I smell, were conceived during that home away from home session. Take it from me, tomorrow's bandh is undoubtedly a government sponsored bundh. Congress, the opposition party in the state, is also a silent supporter. It can't afford to make the support public. The apprehension is, a closed stance may work against the party inside the state, an open stance may irritate their high command.

Hence, the decks for a successful bandh are now cleared. Over 600 organisations have pledged their support to the bandh. 1200 movie theaters across the state are not screening, 12.000 auto-rickshaws, 2.25 lack trucks stand still, schools and colleges are closed, private shops and establishments keep theirs fingers crossed but eventually they will pull the shutters. The Police Commissioner has said that elaborate arrangements to maintain law and order are set in place.

In the Silicon valley CEO's are supporting Kannada for a change. Most of the companies have declared holiday and the work force has to make it good on next immediate convenient day. That's not a bad idea.

Some of the Kannada organisations actively supporting the protests include:
Kannada Hitarakshana Vedike, Kannnada Sahithya Parishat, Kannada Development Authority, Dr. Rajkumar Fans Association, Sangolli Rayanna Kannada Sangha, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Small and Medium merchants association, Karnataka Hoteliers Association, Government Employees Association and Kannada Activists in Mass Transport King, State owned KSRTC.

Non-chalantly I too support this bandh. This type of close-downs, eventually, cause huge losses to the State in terms of production, distribution, merchandise and loss of crores of man-hours. That's ok. Karnataka and Kannada Community in the present cosmopolitan set-up, at every step, has learnt to lose.

Some useful tips to the people actively supporting the bandh: Kindly do not destroy public property. Don't indulge in arson and anarchy. After all this is not a Water-born dispute. Keep of the roads, wait for the milk van, help the needy patients, offer a cup of coffee to the lonely but hapless constable on duty. Do not obstruct vehicles carrying essential goods, who knows you too may need that, on Thursday!