The Inconsiderate Bandh

22-Jan-2011
Electronics City, Bangalore.

Dear Chief Minister,

I write to you in a state of severe frustration. After witnessing the events that took place today as a result of the inconsiderate bandh, I have realized that you and your government have been entirely ignorant of the welfare of the common man.

Today, my family spent Rs.450 for travel in auto-rickshaws where we could have spent well under Rs.100 in buses or Rs.200 at the maximum in Volvos if we needed some luxury. The auto-rickshaw journey from electronic city to Majestic cost us Rs.300 and we considered ourselves lucky because of the compassionate auto-driver (Another auto-driver outrageously asked us Rs.800. We were so shocked to hear the amount that we weren't even interested in bargaining). The point to be noted here is that we could afford Rs.300 for this trip. I am sure you know the vast majority of our people cannot afford such a travel.

I would like to bring up the plight of others that I witnessed. I saw people travel in cramped private buses. There were overloaded private buses, cabs, tempo travellers and even maruthi vans. I watched 10 people (both men and women) get into a Maruthi Omni van. I doubt if these modes of travel are legal. People travelling in these modes of transport had to face two problems -

(i) The amount of money such cab and bus operators charged. I suspect they charged double the usual fares. Though I did not travel in it to actually get to know the fare, I strongly base my suspicion on the claim that auto-drivers and private bus operators do not miss a chance to exploit the plight of the common man.

(ii) Safety! People hanging off foot-boards. 10 people cramped into a Maruthi van. I am sure you would understand how unsafe such situations are.

These problems are not new or specific to the bandh. We can find people experiencing these problems ALL the time. But there was always a way to overcome these problems and that way was to plan in advance. And what bothered me to the limits of severe frustration was the lack of no such option! Every common man dependent on public transport had to experience all these problems today or pay exorbitant prices for other modes of transport.

It is time to ask more important questions that nag the common man. The first one is - Why a bandh?

I phrased this question in different ways first - "Why did you call for a bandh?" and realised that the stress is on the word "you'. I realised that you did not call for the bandh yourself and that your party did it in your welfare. Then I phrased it as "Why did you let your party call for a bandh?". Then I realised the question was much simpler. "Why a bandh?"

I am sure you know better than I do about how a bandh affects the common man. Given this, It is pointless to call for a bandh for any cause. In this instance, it was called for in order to protest against an allegation against you. Whether you were rightly or wrongly accused is immaterial. Even if your supporters and party members think that it is a false accusation, is it not your responsibility as a leader to put the welfare of the common man first and call off the bandh? Are you not capable enough to call off a bandh called for by your own supporters and party members?

Even if they went on with the bandh, should you not be worried about the common man first than your supporters? Shouldn't you go ahead and take a stand on continuing essential services like transport at least? An efficient police system can definitely can take care of miscreants and the transport system can definitely be run. Even if it might lead to the damage of public property, it is worth a try. It is time a leader like you took a stand against such pointless bandhs disrupting essential services and causing trouble to the common man. The common man has enough problems to face. He needn't wake up to face a small bunch of people calling a bandh for a pointless cause and make his day harder.

The second important question I wanted to ask is - Why declare it overnight?

I hope you do understand that the fact that this second question has been asked in itself is a failure on your part. I believe an ideal chief minister should stand up against anything that goes against the welfare of the common man. But, I'll compromise on that. Suppose calling for a bandh is inevitable, then why do it overnight? Is it not your duty to give time for the common man to plan for himself so that he is least affected?

That is all I have to ask though I might have missed an important point. The mere definition of a bandh might be to disrupt the normal life of a common man. But in this specific case, I found the reason for it utterly pointless and since the reason concerned you, I find you, as a leader, irresponsible and inconsiderate because you did nothing to stop it.

If I were given all supreme powers and if I were to pick the chief minister the next time amongst those who asked me to consider them, and if you are one of them, I would first ask you - "Why did you not stop the pointless bandh on January 22, 2011? What is your answer for the troubles a common man faced on that day?"

Sincerely yours,
A frustrated common man.