Belgaum Battle in Bangalore, and a Lost Day
What if the average Bangalorean is least bothered about which state Belgaum belongs to, that sure is no deterrent for Kannada Chaluvali Paksha and Karnataka Rakshna Vedike from calling for a 12 hour strike (6AM to 6PM) to protest against UPA government’s ’step motherly’ treatment in border row with Maharashtra. Ah well…
So we have a daylong strike paralyzing normal life across Bangalore (and perhaps whole Karnataka), thanks to Kannada activists defending the status of Belgaum as an integral part of Karnataka. Btw, if you thought that the near complete shutdown was because people were passionate or seriously concerned about Belgaum issue, then you are mistaken. It was mostly due to the fear psychosis and forced shutdowns.
Thankfully, this time the police was actually present on the streets. This I believe was the reason the bandh went off peacefully, and we did not see a repeat of incidents that took place following Rajkumar’s death.
The traffic was pretty low, and I was able to cover the 22 Kilometers from HSR Layout to HRBR Layout (Kalyan Nagar, Banaswadi) in less than 20 minute while being able to take a few snaps on my way.. I would have loved to put up the photos that I managed to get showing cops doing the rounds (and thanks to them we did not have any untoward incidents today), but none of them came out well.. so here are the ones that I managed.
Posted under: City Life/Bangalore/Uncategorized
Tagged with: bandh, Bangalore, Belgaum, Karnataka, strike
October 4th, 2006 at 21:36:29
Hmm..
this is grand coming from a Tamilian.
You interest in Bangalore is only limited to earning your livlihood.
So, your snarky comments are to read by a huge pinch of salt.
Just because it is an issue relating to kannada, your parochial attitude is showing through..
The success of the bundh shows the solidarity kannadigas have shown for the bundh.
October 5th, 2006 at 00:04:03
d0tslash,
Guess you were kidding (or just being ignorant) when you hinted at me being a tamilian - because am not.
Yes, I am interested in Bangalore for my livelihood, but then I also like Bangalore perhaps as much as you do. As for the rest of Karnataka, frankly I could not care less.
As for the success of the bandh showing the solidarity of kannadigas, I am left wondering how could you even cook up such a statement when almost everyone with an unbiased opinion will tell you that most people in Bangalore could not have cared less about which state does Belgaum belong to, and the fact that it was the fear of untoward incidents (like the ones after Rajkumar’s death) that kept most people inside. And oh, I know a few kannadigas who too were not in favor of this bandh.
And yeah, please feel free to add as much salt as you would like…
October 6th, 2006 at 16:54:31
Good Post. Nice Pics.
One will often hear : Bandh is ’successful’ - what a silly double meaning statement this is.
By successful does one mean that - it was great making upwards of Rs 500 crore losses in a single day, having the daily wage earners go without earnings?
Completely agree. People stayed indoors because of Fear Psychosis. This is a Direct result of extremely poor law and order situation.
India is one of the ONLY countries in the world, where a handful of people can paralyze a whole state.
Well, it happens only in India.
And when will we have our say in the way we want to conduct our lives? Doesn’t india belong as much to the protesting folks as to everyone else?
October 23rd, 2006 at 18:05:01
http://mahawiki.blogspot.com
If Karnataka thinks such foolish bundhs will make belgaum theirs then they are wrong!Justice will be done to Belgaumkars who are being subject to torture of Kannada extrimism from 50 years.The day of renaissance is near!